This study aims to develop an "Emotional Care Competency Scale for Dementia" targeting long-term care professionals and to explore the relationship between caregivers' emotional care competency and their knowledge, attitudes, and confidence in dementia care.

A mixed-methods approach will be employed in two exploratory phases:

Phase One: Scale Development Participants: Purposeful sampling will recruit experienced long-term care professionals.

Method: Conduct qualitative interviews; analyze the collected data using content analysis to code and categorize information; draft the initial version of the Emotional Care Competency Scale for Dementia based on the results.

Phase Two: Scale Validation and Relationship Analysis Objective: Validate the reliability and validity of the scale and examine the relationship between professionals' emotional care competency and their knowledge, attitudes, and confidence in dementia care.

Design: Longitudinal descriptive correlational study. Participants: Convenience sampling to recruit participants for two rounds of questionnaire surveys.

This study seeks to provide a comprehensive tool for assessing emotional care competencies among dementia care professionals and to understand how these competencies relate to their knowledge, attitudes, and confidence in delivering care.

Inclusion Criteria:

- Aged 18 years or older. Currently working in a setting that provides dementia care. Currently engaged in nursing or caregiving services in the long-term care sector.

Able to communicate in Mandarin or Taiwanese. No history of mental illness.

Exclusion Criteria:

- Under 18 years of age. Suffering from significant physical or psychological illnesses.

Professionals working in dementia care within long-term care facilities, such as nurses, nursing assistants, or dementia case managers.

Due to the involvement of participants' sensitive information, we have decided not to share IPD to protect their privacy and comply with confidentiality agreements.