Month: February 2017

People living with dementia (PLWD) have a high prevalence of comorbidty. The aim of this study was to explore the impact of dementia on access to nondementia services and identify ways of improving service delivery for this population.

This study suggests that, in order to improve access and continuity for PLWD and comorbidity, a significant change in the organisation of care is required which involves: coproduction of care where professionals, PLWD and family carers work in partnership; recognition of the way a patient’s diagnosis of dementia affects the management of other long-term conditions; flexibility in services to ensure they are sensitive to the changing needs of PLWD and their family carers over time; and improved collaboration across specialities and organisations. Research is needed to develop interventions that support partnership working and tailoring of care for PLWD and comorbidity.

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As the physiological impact of chronic stress is difficult to study in humans, naturalistic stressors are invaluable sources of information in this area. This review systematically evaluates the research literature examining biomarkers of chronic stress, including neurocognition, in informal dementia caregivers.
Caregivers performed more poorly on attention and executive functioning tests. There was mixed evidence for memory performance. Interventions to reduce stress improved cognition but had mixed effects on cortisol. Risk of bias was generally low to moderate. Given the rising need for family caregivers worldwide, the implications of these findings can no longer be neglected.

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The objective of the study is to examine caregiver factors as predictors of BPSD-related distress and their potential mechanisms.
Caregiver psychosocial factors including sense of competence, guilt, burden and reactivity to BPSD contribute to BPSD-related distress. Tailored interventions for managing behaviour problems in family settings could focus on these factors associated with BPSD-related distress to minimise distress in families.

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Caregivers’ commitment to personal values is linked to caregivers’ well-being, although the effects of personal values on caregivers’ guilt have not been explored to date. The goal of this study is to analyze the relationship between caregivers’ commitment to personal values and guilt feelings.
Our findings suggest that commitment to personal values is a relevant variable to understand guilt feelings in caregivers.

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Robots have the potential to both enable older adults with dementia to perform daily activities with greater independence, and provide support to caregivers. This study explored perspectives of older adults with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and their caregivers on robots that provide stepwise prompting to complete activities in the home.
Few studies have investigated in-depth perspectives of older adults with dementia and their caregivers following direct interaction with an assistive prompting robot. To fulfill the potential of robots, continued dialogue between users and developers, and consideration of robot design and caregiving relationship factors are necessary.

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Psychosocial interventions for carers of people with dementia are increasingly recognized as playing an important role in dementia care. We aim to systematically review the evidence from existing systematic reviews of psychosocial interventions for informal carers of people with dementia. To be most effective, interventions should include both an educational and a therapeutic component; delivery through a support group format may further enhance their effectiveness. Successful translation of evidence into practice in this area remains a challenge.

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This article aims to explore spouse caregivers’ means of coping with the disease and compare them based on the age of onset of the disease in order to adapt support programs. The statistical results show that some strategies were used by the two groups of caregivers. However, when differences emerged, the “Planning” strategy was used by spouse caregivers of PEOD (of persons with early onset dementia ), whereas the “Re-arranging”, “Humor” and “Getting away from the entourage” strategies were used by spouse caregivers of PLOD (persons with late-onset dementia)

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An approach to psychotherapy that integrates cognitive-behavioral, existential, experiential, and psychodynamic perspectives can help family members caring for an individual with dementia approach the challenges and stresses of caregiving in more effective, thoughtful, and connected ways.
This article focuses on the process of helping caregivers differentiate challenges that require perseverance from goals that are unrealistic, face emotions evoked when limits are reached, and stumble toward acceptance and growth.

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