British nursing index bni - exported on 8/7/2016

Dementia is a neurodegenerative disorder that can have a severe effect on the quality of life of individuals with the condition, and can place considerable strain on informal carers and healthcare systems. Research is required to identify ways to prevent or delay the onset of dementia. The government is committed to dementia research, yet funding for dementia research is eclipsed by funding for research into other conditions. Moreover, dementia research can only progress if individuals with the condition participate in research studies.

Safeguards needed if informal carers are to be given cash payments to buy care packages. [(BNI unique abstract)]

Anticipatory mourning is a phenomenon that has received limited attention. This study is a retrospective, qualitative study of caregivers' perception of this process. Twenty-two participants who had received services from Hospice were interviewed, and themes were identified that elucidate the essence of this phenomenon. Participants reveal what was helpful for them, thus providing insight into potential interventions to support care at the end of life.

There is a growing recognition that the carers of cancer patients require information. A key source of this information is the formal health care system that patients, and thus carers, encounter. However, the research literature suggests a lack of clarity on the part of service providers concerning the type, amount, timing and purpose of information for carers. This lack of clarity is reflected in the ways carers have been ‘tacked on’ to patients and thus are often treated as co-clients.

 An economic analysis was conducted as an integral part of a comparison of the effectiveness and suitability of Hospital at Home (HaH) and in-patient interventions. The sample comprised of 109 adult primary total joint replacement patients and 21 of their coresident informal carers.

• The paper is presented in two parts. Part 1 includes the background and rationale for the study and the findings from the comparison of the effectiveness of the two interventions using multiple data collection sources.

New bill to improve support for UK informal carers. The proposed Carers (Identification and Support) Bill is summarised and responses from charities and other organisations are discussed. [BNI unique abstract]

Objective: The Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) is often used to screen for cancer caregivers' anxiety and depression, despite few studies examining the tool's psychometric performance within this population. The purpose of this article is to use Rasch analysis to assess the psychometric properties of the HADS in a sample of cancer caregivers.

Methods: HADS was administered to 541 caregivers of a population-based sample of patients diagnosed with one of the eight most incident cancers in Australia. Rasch analysis was conducted using RUMM2020.

A review of the literature highlights the important role informal carers play in the provision of palliative care in the community. In order to explore the caring experience of relatives with Parkinson’s Disease (PD), interviews were conducted with 26 informal family caregivers. Interviews were taped, transcribed and subjected to content analysis. All caregivers were spouses, the majority female (n = 17) and all were responsible for providing physical, social and emotional care in the home.

Little is known about the dyadic experience over time of people with dementia and their next of kin. The aim of this study was to investigate the state of mind of people with dementia, their next of kin’s experience of burden and satisfaction, and factors associated with these experiences over a 3-year period. The sample consisted of 32 people with dementia living at home with family caregivers in the south of Sweden.

Falls are an important public health problem for older adults, resulting in significant morbidity and mortality, as well as healthcare costs. Evidence supports the assessment of older adults' fall risks and implementation of interventions to reduce these risks. Older adults are the key stakeholder in preventing falls, but need the support of their informal caregivers, healthcare providers, and community groups. This article addresses the roles of these additional stakeholders in providing and supporting best practices in fall prevention.