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1.2 million unpaid carers living in poverty, says report

Across the UK, 1.2 million people who provide unpaid care are poverty-stricken, according to the report from the New Policy Institute (NPI).

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Professional discipline and support recommendations for family caregivers of persons with dementia. ( International Psychogeriatrics, 2016, 28(6))

Family caregivers of persons with dementia often require support services to help ease the challenges of providing care. Although the efficacy of some dementia caregiver interventions seems apparent, evidence indicating which types of protocols can best meet the diverse needs of individual families is not yet available. Because of this gap, families must often turn to professionals for such guidance, but it remains unknown whether professionals from different disciplines are more inclined to recommend particular types of services than others. This study assessed whether recommendations of supportive interventions to hypothetical dementia family caregivers differed by professional discipline.Methods: In a cross-sectional survey design, a convenience sample of 422 dementia care professionals across the USA viewed up to 24 randomly selected, hypothetical scenarios that systematically varied characteristics of persons with dementia and their caregivers. For each scenario, 7 possible intervention recommendations were rated. A total of 6,890 scenarios were rated and served as the unit of analysis.Results: General linear models revealed that discipline was often a stronger predictor of how likely professionals were to recommend dementia caregiver interventions than caregiver, care recipient, or other professional characteristics. Psychotherapists tended to recommend psychoeducation more than other professionals, while those in medicine were more likely to recommend training of the person with dementia and psychotherapy.Conclusions: The heterogeneity in recommendations suggests that the professional source of information influences the types of support families are directed toward. Empirical evidence should inform these professional judgments to better achieve person-centered care for families.

The Academy Library does not currently subscribe to the journal that this article appears in, however we can most likely request it from another library. Please contact the UHSM Academy Library for more detail or call 0161 291 5778.

Resourcefulness Training for Women Dementia Caregivers: Acceptability and Feasibility of Two Methods. (Issues in Mental Health Nursing, 2016, 37(4))

Almost 10 million women in the United States are caregivers for elders with dementia and many experience extreme stress that compromises their health. Acceptable and feasible interventions to teach them resourcefulness skills for managing stress may improve their health and facilitate continued caregiving. This study examined two commonly used methods for practicing skills taught during resourcefulness training (RT) to women caregivers of elders with dementia (n=63): journaling and digital voice recording. It also explored whether providing caregivers a choice between the two methods made it more acceptable or feasible. Qualitative and quantitative data were collected before, during, and after RT. Caregivers who recorded used more words (M=5446) but recorded fewer days (M=17) than those who journaled (M=2792 words and M=27 days). Similar concerns in relation to time management and practice method were expressed by women caregivers irrespective of practice method (journal versus recorder) or random versus choice condition. While journaling was more frequent than recording, more words were expressed during recordings. Perceived stress and depressive symptoms were unrelated to the number of practice days or word counts, suggesting RT acceptability and feasibility even for highly stressed or depressed caregivers. Because intervention feasibility is important for RT effectiveness testing, alternatives to the journaling and recording methods for practicing RT skills should be considered.

Resourcefulness Training for Women Dementia Caregivers: Acceptability and Feasibility of Two Methods. (Issues in Mental Health Nursing, 2016, 37(4)) (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)

Information Needs of Family Caregivers of People With Dementia. (Rehabilitation Nursing, 2016, 41(3))

Understanding caregiver needs is essential when caring for people with dementia. The aim of this study was to identify family caregivers’ information needs as perceived by home care workers and the caregivers themselves. This study used a descriptive survey design and convenience sampling. The two groups of care providers were given a list of 48 items and asked to choose caregivers’ top 10 information needs.
Findings: Group 1 (n = 33 unpaid family caregivers) identified dealing with behavior changes and group 2 (n = 59 paid home care workers) identified providing personal care as most important. Conclusion
While differences between these groups emerged, both care providers chose more items related to needing help for the care recipient, than items related to needing help for the caregivers themselves, e.g., support group.

Information Needs of Family Caregivers of People With Dementia. (Rehabilitation Nursing, 2016, 41(3)) (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)

Dementia-related work activities of home care nurses and aides: Frequency, perceived competence, and continuing education priorities. (Educational Gerontology, 2016, 42(2))

An understanding of the specific dementia learning needs of home care staff is needed to plan relevant continuing education (CE) programs and supports. The study’s objective was to examine frequency and perceived competence in performing 20 dementia-related work activities, and identify CE priorities among home care staff. A cross-sectional survey of all home care staff in a primarily rural health region was used to gather data. Of 111 eligible staff, 82 participated (41 nursing aides, 41 nurses/case managers). To explore the relationship between activity frequency (F) and competence (C), the proportion of nurses and aides in four quadrants for each activity was examined: (1) low F-low C, (2) low F-high C, (3) high F-low C, and (4) high F-high C. Nurses/case managers were significantly more likely than aides to regularly perform 11 activities and to report high competence in 9 activities (p < .05); aides were more likely to assist with two activities (personal care and daily living activities). Thus, nurses/case managers performed a broader range of activities and reported higher competence overall. The top CE topic for both groups was recognizing differences between dementia subtypes, but rankings for most activities varied by group. Aides’ CE priorities indicated a desire to develop competence in low frequency-low competence activities, suggesting an expanded role in supporting dementia patients and their families. Nurses’ CE priority topics were in the high F-high C quadrant, indicating a need to further develop competence in these activities. Findings have implications for planning CE programming for home care providers. The Academy Library does not currently subscribe to the journal that this article appears in, however we can most likely request it from another library. Please contact the UHSM Academy Library for more detail or call 0161 291 5778.

Empowerment of young people who have a parent living with dementia: a social model perspective. (International Psychogeriatrics, 2016, 28(4))

Socially constructed disablement has marginalized young people in families where a parent has younger onset dementia (YOD). This has contributed to inadequate societal support for their complex situation. Impacts on such young people include significant involvement with mental health services for themselves. In this paper, we explored the young people’s lived experiences in these families and the influencing factors to enable these young people to be included and supported within their community.Methods: In this qualitative research study, the social model of disability was used as the theoretical framework in conducting a thematic analysis of interviews with 12 participants.Results: Three themes emerged; invisibility highlighting the issues of marginalization; connectivity foregrounding the engagement of young people with family, friends and their social networks, and being empowered through claiming their basic human right to receive the age appropriate support they needed.Conclusion: The current plight of young people living with a parent with YOD demands a fundamental shift by society in developing inclusive cross-sectorial cooperation linking service providers across youth and dementia sectors. This requires working in partnership with the service users responding to the identified needs of individual family members.

The influence of day care centres for people with dementia on family caregivers: an integrative review of the literature. (Aging & Mental Health, 2016 20(5))

Day care centres (DCC) for people with dementia (PWD) have received increased attention recently, due to a shift in policy from the use of residential care towards home-based services. The aim of this study is to provide an extended understanding of the influence of DCCs on family caregivers (FCs).

Facilitating independence: The benefits of a post-diagnostic support project for people with dementia. (Dementia 2016, 15(2))

Providing support in the form of information, advice and access to services or social events is promoted as beneficial for people newly diagnosed with dementia and their families. This paper reports on key findings from an evaluation of a post-diagnostic support pilot project in Scotland addressing local service gaps, namely information provision, emotional and practical support and maintaining community links. Twenty-seven participants (14 people newly diagnosed with dementia and 13 family carers) were interviewed at two time points: T1 shortly after joining the pilot project and T2 approximately six months later, to ascertain their views on existing services and the support offered by the pilot project. A comparative thematic analysis revealed that the project facilitated increased independence (associated with increased motivation and self-confidence) of people with dementia. The project illustrates what can be achieved if resources are targeted at providing individualised post-diagnostic support, particularly where there are service delivery gaps.

Training programmes and mealtime assistance may improve eating performance for elderly long-term care residents with dementia. (Evidence Based Nursing, 2016, 19(1))

Ability to eat autonomously at mealtimes enhances social contact and interaction, supports adequate nutrition and intake, and promotes the enjoyment of food. Yet more than half of older adults with dementia living in long-term care lose the ability to get food into their mouths. Factors influencing eating performance include intrapersonal characteristics (eg cognitive impairment), interpersonal features (eg interactions with caregivers and other residents) and environmental aspects (eg physical elements such as noise or organisational elements such as staffing levels). Caregivers are in a strategic position to support eating ability with targeting each of these factors. The purpose of this study is to summarise mealtime interventions and to evaluate their effectiveness on the eating performance of older adults with dementia in long-term care.

Training programmes and mealtime assistance may improve eating performance for elderly long-term care residents with dementia. (Evidence Based Nursing, 2016, 19(1)) (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)

Nutrition and Hydration Week: one trust’s recipe for success. (British Journal of Nursing, 2016, 25(5))

The article describes the efforts of the County Durth and Darlington National Health Service (NHS) Foundation Trust in implementing its nutrition and hydration strategy plan. Topics discussed include the launch of a finder food menu in management of dementia among hospital patients, the afternoon tea party held at Darlington Hospital, and the trial of Simple Measures mugs.

Nutrition and Hydration Week: one trust’s recipe for success. (British Journal of Nursing, 2016, 25(5)) (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)