The personhood in patients with dementia assessed in Italian healthcare professionals: an explorative study

Aim. The present study aimed to evaluate the differences in the assessment of Personhood in patients with dementia according to professional profiles and years of work experience among Italian healthcare professionals directly involved in the care of patients with dementia. In addition, the correlation between the conferral of personhood and the fundamental determinants of the Montessori method applied to Dementia was also investigated.Methods. The study was observational, cross-sectional, and multicenter. Data were collected through the online administration of the Personhood in Dementia Questionnaire, between July and September 2020, in residential facilities for the elderly in two Italian regions: Emilia- Romagna and Puglia.Results. 98 participants were recruited. Of these, 73(74.5%) were social health workers (SHW) and 25(25.5%) were nurses; 40.8% of the participants have worked with people with dementia for less than 5 years, while 59.2% worked for more than 6 years. No statistically significant differences in the domains between both professions and years of service were registered. Moreover, significance calculations on the domains, found no significant differences between both professionals and the years of experience. However, the Socialization/ Montessori method domain showed the highest grading of agreement at 58.8% (n = 346), followed by Self-awareness in the person with dementia at 50.6% (n = 258) and Concept of person and community at < 50%. Finally, the PDQ correlation to the three organizational panel questions were also performed by also considering other three questions.Conclusions. Patients with dementia might be considered a resource for the healthcare professions. Our results evidence the need for structure training courses in permanent residential facilities, with the goal of increasing the level of knowledge about the subject of personhood, dementia and the benefits of applying Montessori models.