Experiences of empathy of caregivers caring for persons with dementia: a qualitative systematic review protocol.

Objective: The aim of this systematic review will be to explore the experiences of empathy in informal caregivers caring for persons with dementia.

Introduction: Positive caregiving experiences of informal caregivers caring for persons with dementia have many beneficial outcomes, such as improved well-being of both caregivers and care receivers and a higher quality of care for the persons with dementia. Empathy is a factor associated with positive caregiving experiences and is strongly correlated with reduced depression and reduced anxiety in informal caregivers of persons with dementia. Therefore, it is essential to understand the experiences of empathy, especially the caregiver characteristics such as their caring behaviors, relationship with the patient, and cultural beliefs.

Inclusion criteria: This review will include studies on the empathy experiences of informal caregivers caring for persons with any type of dementia. It will consider qualitative studies, including, but not limited to, designs such as phenomenology, grounded theory, ethnography, action research, and feminist research.

Methods: This study will follow the JBI guidance for systematic reviews of qualitative evidence and will use the meta-aggregation approach to synthesise qualitative studies. The search strategy will aim to locate both published and unpublished studies in English, Chinese, and Thai, with no date restrictions. Methodological quality will be evaluated using the standard JBI critical appraisal checklist for qualitative research. The findings will be pooled using the meta-aggregation approach or will be presented in narrative format.

Systematic review registration number: PROSPERO CRD42023490472.