Middle age

OBJECTIVE: To quantify time caring, burden and health status in carers of stroke patients after discharge from rehabilitation; to identify the potentially modifiable sociodemographic and clinical characteristics associated with these outcomes. METHODS: Patients and carers prospectively interviewed 6 (n=71) and 12 (n=57) months after discharge. Relationships of carer and patient variables with burden, health status and time analysed by Gaussian and Poisson regression. RESULTS: Carers showed considerable burden at 6 and 12 months.

Purpose. Despite increasing evidence of adverse effects on informal carers of caring for stroke survivors, little is known about the characteristics of carers and survivors that influence carer outcomes. The purpose of this review is to summarize factors influencing outcomes in carers of stroke survivors. Methods. A systematic review of studies identified from English language medicine, nursing and psychology databases from 1996 - 2006 was carried out. Results. Thirty-nine studies were identified. Studies from Europe and the USA investigating negative carer outcomes dominated.

PURPOSE: To establish the validity and reliability of a questionnaire measuring the experience of informal carers of patients with stroke through acute and rehabilitation hospital treatment.

Aim: To investigate the gains experienced by family caregivers of persons with dementia. Methods: Twelve respondents were recruited using purposive sampling from three institutions around Singapore. A qualitative design, guided by the grounded theory approach, was adopted and involved semi-structured, in-depth, face-to-face interviews. The interviews were recorded, transcribed and analyzed using open, axial and selective coding. Results: All caregivers interviewed reported having gained from caregiving.

Aim: The aim of this study was to explore carers' perceptions of their ability to access a range of health and social care services, including information about the services. Method: A total of 151 participants, who were all members of a charity set up and run by informal carers of people with learning disabilities, were given semi-structured questionnaires, which yielded qualitative and quantitative data. Further data came from two focus groups.

This article examines whether providing informal eldercare to an older dependent person predicts employees' intentions to change jobs or exit the labor market and, if so, which particular aspects of both caregiving (e.g. time demands, physical/cognitive care burden) and their current work environment shape these intentions. We used data from a sample of 471 caring and 431 noncaring employees in Austria and split the analyses by gender.

Because of the complex nature of the problems that carers of persons with dementia encounter, several comprehensive support programs for carers were developed in the past decade. One such program is the Meeting Centres Support Program (MCSP) that integrates different types of support for persons with dementia and their carers, which have proved to be effective in practice and/or research.

Objective: To evaluate the efficacy of a practical, easily implemented, educational intervention in group format for informal carers of persons with dementia. Methods: Multi-centre, randomised, controlled, single-blind trial involving 292 family caregivers of patients with moderate dementia in Alzheimer's disease. Results: Participants valued program components which had a practical impact on their caring role. The intervention achieved minor effects on the participants' psychological quality of life and did not reduce carer depression.

Objectives: To test the hypotheses that older people and their informal carers are not disadvantaged by home-based rehabilitation (HBR) relative to day hospital rehabilitation (DHR) and that HBR is less costly.

Design: Two-arm randomised controlled trial.

Setting: Four trusts in England providing both HBR and DHR.

Participants: Clinical staff reviewed consecutive referrals to identify subjects who were potentially suitable for randomisation according to the defined inclusion criteria.

Interventions: Patients were randomised to receive either HBR or DHR.