Care Staff’s Daily Living Decision-Making Support Scale for Older Adults with Dementia in Japan: Development of Validity and Reliability

This study aimed to develop and validate a scale to assess the daily-living decision-making support of care staff for older adults with dementia (OwDs) in Japan. A questionnaire survey was conducted among 138 care staff at two geriatric healthcare facilities from February to March 2021. The Daily Living Decision-Making Support Scale for Older Adults with Dementia (DL-DM) was developed using item analysis, factor analysis, and covariance structure analysis. The factor analysis yielded 12 items and three factors: (1) support for the formation and expression of intentions in daily life based on the life background and values of OwDs; (2) attitudes and devising ways to communicate regarding the formation and expression of intentions in OwDs daily lives; and (3) devising ways to support OwDs in realizing their intentions in daily life. The internal consistency reliability analysis yielded a Cronbach’s α of 0.87 for the total scale. The DL-DM correlated with the concurrent validity measures as expected. The DL-DM demonstrated validity and reliability as a potential scale to assess support for OwDs in daily life decision-making. The results also suggest an association between the DL-DM and person-centered care for OwDs.