Implicit cognition of occupational therapy students towards dementia patients

Abstract

The latent association test was used to examine the implicit cognition of occupational therapy students for patients with dementia. The results indicate that although occupational therapy students had both implicit and explicit negative cognition for dementia patients, there was no correlation between the two. In addition, specialized education such as lectures and clinical education further enhances students’ implicit negative perceptions, suggesting that BPSD due to dementia is the cause. Therefore, it is necessary to begin education on the premise that students already have negative cognition for dementia patients, and it is necessary for them to learn how to interact with people with dementia and how to deal with their symptoms before clinical education.