Month: September 2016

The Initial Development of a Checklist for Assessing Thirst in Patients With Advanced Dementia. (The journal of nursing research, Sep 2016, 24(3) p. 224-231

Patients with advanced dementia (PwAD) often have difficulty expressing their needs verbally because of cognitive impairments. PwAD thus often communicate these needs through behaviors and psychological symptoms. Understanding the behavioral characteristics of certain needs is critical for caregivers and clinicians when caring for PwAD. The purpose of this study was to develop a checklist that may be used to assess the thirst status of PwAD. Exploratory factor analysis identified seven checklist items, including repetitive movements, squirming, restlessness or anxiety, persistent or unreasonable demands, pacing back and forth, repeating a sentence or question without purpose, and slow reaction. The factor loadings of these seven items accounted for 49.3% of the total variance. The reassessed internal consistency reliability was .66. Caregivers may use this checklist as an aid to identify the thirst or fluid needs of PwAD who are unable to communicate their needs effectively.

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Spousal Caregiver Perspectives on a Person-Centered Social Program for Partners With Dementia. (American journal of Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias, Sep 2016, 31(6) p. 465-473)

This qualitative study explored spousal caregiver perspectives on the experience and impact of a person-centered social program for partners with dementia. Interviews with 5 caregivers and the spouses with dementia were conducted 7 to 8 months after the program ended to explore the sustained impact of the program. Interpretative phenomenological analysis was used to support in-depth exploration of interviews. Three themes emerged including benefits of the program for caregivers, initial expectations and later perspectives of caregivers about the program, and conflicting values and perspectives between caregivers and the spouses. These findings suggest participation in a person-centered social program by people with dementia benefits their caregivers, by meeting the caregivers’ desire for their spouses to increase social participation and engagement in meaningful activities. Participation in the program provided a sustained benefit to one couple in particular, by encouraging the caregiver to resume arranging activities the couple once enjoyed but now had difficulty pursuing.

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Caregiver burden in family carers of people with dementia with Lewy bodies and Alzheimer’s disease. (Int j geri psyc, Sep 2016, 31(9) p. 1075-1083)

To characterise the differences in caregiver distress between carers of people diagnosed with dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) and people with Alzheimer’s disease (AD), with a view to differentiating and improving support for caregivers. This study is a part of two larger Norwegian studies.  Findings:  Caregiver distress differed (RSS total, p?=?0.005) between people caring for someone with AD (15.0) and those caring for someone with DLB (19.9). These findings have direct implications for the needs and resources that could be available for these individuals and indicate the need for further research into caregiver burden in carers to people with DLB.

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Catch a Glimpse of Me: The development of staff videos to promote person-centered care. (Dementia, Sept. 2016 15(5))

Catch a Glimpse of Me is an ongoing project that uses video to help staff deliver more person-centered care for people with dementia living in long-term care. Focus groups consisting of residents, family and staff members were conducted to develop a template for the development of the videos. The five themes they identified as being important to include are: family; interests and hobbies; memories and moments; life space and getting personal. The article describes the process of developing the videos and discusses the ongoing potential of the Catch a Glimpse of Me project.

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Therapeutic use of dolls for people living with dementia: A critical review of the literature. (Dementia, Sept. 2016 15(5))

There are a number of therapies currently available to assist healthcare professionals and carers with non-pharmacological treatment for people living with dementia. One such therapy that has been growing in clinical practice is doll therapy. Providing dolls to some people living with dementia has the potential to enhance personal well-being through increased levels of communication and engagement with others. Despite its potential for benefits, the practice is currently under-developed in healthcare literature, probably due to varied ethical interpretations of its practice.

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“It makes me feel like myself”: Person-centered versus traditional visual arts activities for people with dementia. (Dementia, Sept. 2016 15(5))

During a 15-month period between February 2010 and April 2011, video data on (n = 38) people with dementia were collected during a person-centered and intergenerational arts activity program called Opening Minds through Art (OMA) at three different long-term care facilities in Ohio. Paired-sample t-tests comparing OMA vs. traditional visual arts activities showed significantly higher intensity scores for OMA in the domain of engagement and pleasure, as well as significantly lower intensity scores for disengagement. The findings of this exploratory study contribute to the overall discussion about the impact of person-centered, creative-expressive arts activities on people with dementia.

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Resistiveness to care during assistance with activities of daily living in non-institutionalized persons with dementia: Associations with informal caregivers stress and well-being. (Aging & Mental Health, Sep 2016, 20(9) p. 888-898)

Objectives: Resistiveness to care (RTC) refers to behavior problems that co-occur during assistance with activities of daily living (ADL). RTC are considered challenging, but are mostly studied in institutions with implications for patients and formal caregivers. RTC is associated with agitation, but agitation is considered a separate construct. Detection of RTC may be left out of common assessments of persons with dementia in studies of informal caregiving (e.g. global assessments of dementia behavioral symptoms, standard assessments of ADL function). This study examines how RTC (frequency and caregivers stress appraisals of RTC) is related to caregivers well-being. Conclusion: RTC is common in persons with dementia residing at home, and RTC has more negative association with informal caregivers well-being than assistance with ADL. Adding RTC frequency and appraisal items to standard ADL measures may better estimate caregivers’ needs and risk, and identify modifiable environmental features by assessing behavioral symptoms in context.

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Psychosocial interventions for people with young onset dementia and their carers: A systematic review. (Int Psychogeriatrics, Sep 2016, 28(9) p. 1441-1454)

Background: Dementia in younger people, known as young (YOD) or early onset dementia (EOD), can pose significant challenges. YOD is often diagnosed in those in paid employment who have relatively young children, leading to different challenges to those for older people. It is therefore very important to provide support tailored to their specific needs. This systematic review aimed to synthesize the literature investigating the impact of psychosocial interventions for people with YOD and their family carers. Conclusions: This review suggests work-based interventions providing supported, meaningful work outside the home can be beneficial. However, the dearth of studies, the lack of focus on family carers and their mixed quality demonstrate the need for better quality, mixed methods research with larger sample sizes.

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A systematic review of the effect of telephone, internet or combined support for carers of people living with Alzheimer’s, vascular or mixed dementia in the community. (Archives of Gerontology and Geriatrics, September 2016, 66 p218-236)

The objective of this review was to assess the effectiveness of interventions delivered by telephone, internet or combined formats to support carers of community dwelling people living with Alzheimer’s Disease, vascular dementia or mixed dementia. English language literature published up to 2016 was searched. When considering the ratio of number of studies to successful outcomes, combined telephone and internet delivery of multicomponent interventions demonstrated relatively more positive outcomes in reducing depression, burden and increasing self-efficacy than telephone alone or internet alone. Further studies are necessary to evaluate the effectiveness of interventions targeted at specific types of dementia and to understand which components of interventions are most effective.

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https://www.clinicalkey.com/#!/browse/toc/1-s2.0-S0167494316X00039/null/journalIssue

The need for specialist nurses in dementia care. (Nursing times, April 2016, 112 (16) p 14-17)

The need for specialist nurses in Dementia awareness is on the increase but, in many cases, tangible improvements in care are yet to be seen. As specialist nurse roles have improved patient care and outcomes in other specialties–most notably cancer care–this article looks at their impact and asks whether there is a need for such roles in dementia care, to what extent patient and carer experiences might be improved, and how health and social care might come together with policy makers and third-sector organisations to secure positive change.

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