The impact of experiential learning on healthcare students’ attitudes towards dementia: a systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Healthcare students' attitudes towards dementia are crucial to the quality of care. Experiential learning is a promising strategy; however, the comparative effectiveness of its various modalities remains unclear. This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to evaluate the impact of experiential learning interventions on healthcare students' attitudes towards dementia. METHODS: A comprehensive literature search was conducted across eight databases (e.g., PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library) for studies published up to August 2024. A total of 2,350 articles were initially identified using the keywords "experiential learning," "students," "attitude," and "dementia." Only studies that evaluated the impact of experiential learning on attitudes towards dementia using the Dementia Attitude Scale (DAS) were included. RESULTS: Thirteen studies involving 1,861 healthcare students were included. Experiential learning significantly improved attitudes towards dementia (WMD = 9.46, 95% CI [6.33-12.58], p < 0.001). Both short-term (single-session) and long-term programs (multiple-session) demonstrated comparable levels of improvement (p = 0.49). Artistic interventions (e.g., storytelling, visual arts) produced significantly greater effects than non-artistic interventions (WMD = 13.44 vs. 7.58, p = 0.02). Interdisciplinary interventions were associated with greater improvement in attitudes, whereas virtual learning formats showed inconsistent outcomes and lacked sufficient representation for robust subgroup analysis. CONCLUSION: Experiential learning, particularly artistic and interdisciplinary approaches, significantly enhances healthcare students' attitudes towards dementia. Even brief interventions proved effective, underscoring their applicability in resource-limited settings. However, methodological limitations, such as quasi-experimental designs, short-term follow-ups, and limited disciplinary and geographic diversity, restrict generalizability. Future studies should employ rigorous designs, explore virtual innovations, and assess long-term outcomes to inform scalable, evidence-based dementia education.