From Overload to Understanding: How Caregivers Experience and Use Information in Dementia Counselling.

backgroundCaregiver education is fundamental to dementia care, yet novice caregivers often receive large amounts of information immediately following diagnosis, when emotional adjustment and learning readiness may influence engagement. Less is known about how caregivers engage with, understand and apply dementia-related information in this period. This study explored caregivers' experiences of receiving and applying information during nurse-led dementia counselling, using Cognitive Load Theory as one interpretive lens alongside broader Meleis' Transition Theory and Lazarus and Folkman's Transactional Model of Stress and Coping.

methodsA secondary qualitative descriptive study was conducted using semi-structured interview data from 11 novice dementia caregivers recruited from a tertiary hospital's outpatient geriatric clinic. Data were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis, with multiple theoretical frameworks serving as sensitising lenses to inform interpretation.

resultsThree themes were identified: (1) 'Navigating Informational Demands in Early Dementia Caregiving,' reflecting difficulties engaging with complex information during emotional distress and uncertainty; (2) 'Building Understanding Through Practical Experience and Repetition', describing how caregivers gradually applied and contextualised information through practice and repeated exposure; and (3) 'Preferences for Accessible, Individualised and Integrated Dementia Education', highlighting preferences for staged, personalised, multimodal, and integrated educational support. Emotional readiness, prior experience, practical relevance and accessible support systems were identified as important influences on caregivers' learning experiences. DISCUSSION: Post-diagnostic learning was shaped by the interaction between emotional adjustment, informational demands and available support. Findings suggest that dementia counselling may be better supported through staged, personalised and multimodal approaches rather than single information-dense encounters. While Cognitive Load Theory offered one useful perspective, the findings more broadly reflected emotional, relational and transitional experiences, better understood through the complementary lenses of Meleis' Transition Theory and Lazarus and Folkman's Transactional Model of Stress and Coping, with practical implications for psychogeriatric nursing and post-diagnostic caregiver support.