Objectives: To achieve a dementia-friendly society, it is important to understand the attitudes of community- dwelling people toward dementia and those with dementia. Previous studies have reported an association between reduced interpersonal and social interactions and ageism. This may lead to increased prejudice and intolerance toward dementia and people with dementia. This study examined whether a deficiency in social functioning is associated with attitudes toward dementia among community-dwelling older persons.

Methods: We conducted a self-administered questionnaire survey shared by mail with 4,986 community-dwelling older persons (mean age 75.0 ± 6.78; 2,703 women) who were not certified as requiring nursing care in the Tokyo metropolitan urban area. Attitudes toward persons with dementia were assessed using the “Attitudes Toward Dementia Scale” (ATDS; Kim & Kuroda, 2011). ATDS comprises 14 items with scores ranging from 14 to 56; a higher score indicated more positive attitudes. Social functioning was measured by 1) living alone, 2) emotional support, 3) instrumental support, 4) going out less often, 5) visiting friends’ homes, 6) feeling useless, 7) low education, 8) participation in community activities, and 9) economic status. Binomial logistic regression analysis was conducted using these nine social functions as explanatory variables, with sex, age, a subjective sense of health, cognitive decline, mental health, caregiving experience, and the five items of knowledge and awareness of dementia as adjustment variables.

Results: The social functions that were significantly associated (p < .05) with ATDS were a lack of instrumental support (OR = 1.27, 95%CI = 1.01–1.59), not visiting friends’ homes (OR = 1.25, 95%CI = 1.03–1.53), feeling useless (OR = 1.48, 95%CI = 1.12–1.96), and not participating in community activities (OR = 1.27, 95%CI = 1.05–1.54), and all of these were associated with negative attitudes toward people with dementia. Male sex, extremely old age, poor mental health, lack of caregiving experience, and poor knowledge about dementia were also associated with negative attitudes.

Conclusions: Lack of support and connections with friends and neighbors were associated with negative attitudes toward persons with dementia. To achieve a dementia-friendly society, it is crucial to have contact with people with dementia, knowledge about the symptoms of dementia, as well as connections with others in the community.