Kayleigh Little-Parks OT/s, Laine Fountain OT/s, Gregg Cosloy OT/s, Josue Jeangilles OT/s

Objective: It is estimated that the total number of people diagnosed with dementia will rise to more than 9 million Americans by the year 2030 (Population Reference Bureau, 2022). The dementia diagnosis is often accompanied by behavioral and psychological symptoms that can be difficult to mitigate and are distressing to the patient with dementia as well as to their caregivers. This research was designed to determine if providing occupational therapy-based education to nursing students would increase knowledge of dementia and confidence to manage behavioral and psychological episodes that often accompany this disease. Methods: Participants were recruited from colleges and universities by email and were included if they were matriculating in a nursing program and had no prior supplemental dementia training or experience. Two measurement tools were utilized pre- and post-educational instruction: the Dementia Knowledge Assessment Tool, Version 2 (DKAT-2) and the Confidence in Dementia Scale (CODE), to measure differences in knowledge and confidence in dementia care after completing the educational modules. Results: Statistical tests were not able to be applied to the data because of a lack of participants. However, raw data appears to show an increase in knowledge of dementia symptoms and confidence in managing them. Conclusion: Results indicate that providing occupational therapy-based education to nursing students can improve their knowledge and confidence in managing dementia symptoms. However, these results should be used with caution as this study had a small sample size and results could not be statistically analyzed.