Development of the Questionnaire on Palliative Care for Advanced Dementia (qPAD)

The Questionnaire on Palliative Care for Advanced Dementia (qPAD) is a 2-part instrument that measures long-term care staff knowledge, and beliefs, perceptions, and attitudes about palliative and end-of-life care for persons with advanced dementia. Factor analyses of the Knowledge Test (coefficient alpha = .81) produced 3 factors: Anticipating Needs, Preventing Negative Outcomes, and Insight and Intuition (coefficient alpha = .75, .73, and .58, respectively), explaining 67% of the total variance. Factor analyses of the Attitude Scale (coefficient alpha = .83) produced 3 factors: Job Satisfaction, Perceptions and Beliefs, and Work Setting Support of Families (coefficient alpha = .90, .64, and .67, respectively), explaining 68% of the total variance. These initial findings hold promise for an instrument that measures both knowledge and attitudes of long-term care staff in the care of persons with advanced dementia.