Month: September 2016

Overlooking Informal Dementia Caregivers’ Burden. (Research in Gerontological Nursing, 2016, 9(4) p 167-174)

Patients with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) need early caregiver support. Caregivers often have poor health, but usually do not have time to seek medical advice for their own conditions. Patients’ physicians, who are frequently the sole medical practitioner caregivers contact regularly, have an important function in recognizing family caregivers’ burdens. The current study investigated to what extent medical practitioners recognized family caregivers’ problems. In a two-staged survey in neurology outpatient care, caregivers of patients with mild or moderate AD were enrolled and assessed by physicians regarding their physical and mental burden, as well as need for help and advice about AD. Subsequently, caregivers’ mental health was evaluated in a comprehensive diagnostic interview by blinded psychologists. Overall, 73.7% of caregivers had at least one somatic condition and 43.7% had clinically relevant depressive symptoms (of these, 37.5% met criteria for major depression). The findings suggest that the burden of a substantial proportion of affected family caregivers is overlooked.

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From togetherness to loneliness: supporting people with dementia. (Br J Com Nur. Sept 2016)

The need for collaborative working between health, social care and the third sector is greater than ever. The District Nursing service is central to initiating and leading such collaborative developments. This article is an example of how a new third sector service can complement and share the care and support for people with dementia and their families, living in the community. It highlights what people with dementia want, how this underpinned the development of this new service and what such a service can offer, not only for the individual person with dementia but also their family/carers. It also highlights the value of working in partnership to meet the changing needs of individuals and their families/carers.

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Transcultural nursing strategies for carers of people with dementia. (Nursing older people, April 2016, 28(3) p 21-25)

Caring for a family member with dementia is stressful, and carers from all backgrounds often feel overwhelmed and under-supported. Professional and family carers’ perceptions of the challenges and satisfactions of caring are influenced by culturally derived expectations. However, experiences of caring often differ from stereotypical norms. Experiences of carer stress and beliefs about the nature and extent of support that can be expected from social networks and statutory services may differ between cultural groups in the UK, but sensitive advice, information, and emotional and practical support are universally required. Transcultural comparisons reveal similarities between carers’ needs and enable identification of values-based culturally congruent recommendations that nurses can use to promote black and Asian minority ethnic carers’ confidence and wellbeing. This article, based on practice experience and a literature review, explores the effect of caring among different cultural groups and offers recommendations for culturally congruent interventions to support carers. It provides evidence-based guidance to enable nurses to meet their responsibilities for transcultural working, as laid out in the Care Act 2014. A scenario illustrates recommendations for practice.

Nursing older people (Follow this link if you have an Athens password). Alternatively contact the UHSM Academy Library for a copy of the article or call 0161 291 5778)

Advance care planning in Dementia: Do family carers know the treatment preferences of people with early dementia. (PLoS ONE, July 2016, 11(7) no pagination)

When a person with dementia (PWD) has lost the ability to make treatment decisions, clinicians often rely on family carers to know and articulate these preferences with assumed accuracy. This study used the Life Support Preferences Questionnaire (LSPQ) to explore whether family carers’ choices show agreement with the end of life care preferences of the person with dementia for whom they care and what factors influence this.

PLoS ONE (Follow this link if you have an Athens password). Alternatively contact the UHSM Academy Library for a copy of the article or call 0161 291 5778)

In whose best interests? A case study of a family affected by dementia. (British journal of community nursing, June 2016, 21(6) p 300-304)

Many people with dementia are cared for by family members. Family carers often feel bound to support the person with dementia at the expense of their own needs, which can be neglected. They often experience distress when making decisions, especially over ethical dilemmas when their own interests and those of the person being cared for conflict. This paper presents a case study approach to consider best interests decision making for families affected by dementia. In the case study, a carer is supporting his father to remain living at home although he feels this unsafe and the demands of this cause tension with his family and affect his performance at work.

British journal of community nursing (Follow this link if you have an Athens password). Alternatively contact the UHSM Academy Library for a copy of the article or call 0161 291 5778)

Improving acute care for patients with dementia. : Nursing Times, (February 2016, 112/5 p 22-24)

People with dementia are more likely to experience a decline in function, fall or fracture when admitted to hospital than the general hospital population. Informal carers’ views were sought on the care their relative with dementia received in hospital. Participants were concerned about a lack of essential nursing care, harmful incidents, a decline in patient function, poor staff communication and carers’ needs not being acknowledged. Care can be improved through further training, more effective communication, consideration of the appropriate place to care for people and more use of carers’ knowledge.

Nursing Times (Follow this link if you have an Athens password). Alternatively contact the UHSM Academy Library for a copy of the article or call 0161 291 5778)

Dance/Movement Therapy and Sensory Stimulation: A Holistic Approach to Dementia Care. (American Journal of Dance Therapy, Aug 2016)

Nearly 135 million people worldwide will be afflicted with dementia by 2050. Dementia is a devastating and progressive illness that results in the loss of one’s sense of self and feelings such as frustration, depression, and anxiety. Dance/movement therapy (DMT) is a useful, non-pharmacologic method for the treatment of dementia, as this discipline enhances quality of life, may attenuate cognitive decline, and is cost-effective; DMT engages the sensory systems and stimulates physical, emotional, and cognitive functioning. This article affirms that sensory stimulation in DMT is a holistic, economical, and fruitful approach for dementia care.

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Training to promote dementia support. (Nursing Times, Vol 112 (25), p. 20-23)

Inadequate care has been identified for those with dementia at all stages, from pre-diagnosis to end-of-life care. Nationally, two levels of initiatives are evolving: basic awareness skilling of frontline care staff and changing services at the strategic level. Senior clinical staff have the potential to fill the gap between the two levels and drive speedier service change.

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You stole my food! Eating alterations in frontotemporal dementia. (Neurocase, Aug 2016, 22(4) p. 400-409)

Patients with different types of dementia may exhibit pathological eating habits, including food fads, hyperphagia, or even ingestion of inanimate objects. Several findings reveal that such eating alterations are more common in patients with frontotemporal dementia (FTD) than other types of dementia. Moreover, eating alterations may differ between the two variants of the disease, namely the behavioral variant and semantic dementia (SD). In this review, we summarized evidences regarding four areas: eating and body weight alterations in FTD, the most common assessment methods, anatomical correlates of eating disorders, and finally, proposed underlying mechanisms. An increasing understanding of the factors that contribute to eating abnormalities may allow first, a better comprehension of the clinical features of the disease and second, shed light on the mechanism underlying eating behaviors in the normal population.

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The Impact of Dementia on Family Caregivers: What Is Research Teaching Us? (Current Neurology and Neuroscience Reports, October 2016.)

Dementia family caregiving has been the focus of research for decades. Much has been learned about the negative impact of caregiving as well as characteristics that may be protective. This paper explores themes in caregiving pertinent to clinicians and researchers working with dementia family caregivers: the psychological, subjective, and physical outcomes of caregiving, ways in which dementia alters relationships between the patient and caregiver, and strategies for improving outcomes for caregivers. Suggestions for next steps in research and clinical care are made.

This article is not available from the Academy Library’s collection. If you would like us to request it from another library, please call 0161 291 5778 or email the UHSM Academy Library for more detail or call 0161 291 5778.