Nursing homes

Aims.  This paper reports a study to investigate the relationships between informal and formal care, changing relationships over time, impact of integrated care, and theoretical and methodological lessons that can be drawn from research on this topic.

Behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD) are common and problematic in clinical practice and represent a significant part of the day-to-day workload of the old age psychiatry team in hospital, institution and community settings. Improving recognition and management of BPSD can have a positive impact on the quality of life of patients and their carers and potentially delay the transition from home to institutional care.