Decision making

Kennedy talks about the importance of family caregivers. Among other things, making sure that family caregivers are prepared prior to discharge in understanding the family members diagnosis and what it means for ongoing care, how to provide care, and what changes signal the need for professional intervention.

Older caregivers may be unfamiliar with guardianship, and may not know if it could help or hinder their caregiving. This article explores questions that professionals who are counseling older caregivers should ask, including whether guardianship is needed or if there is a less restrictive option; whether the caregiver should petition and what to expect of the court proceeding; whether the caregiver should take on the legal responsibility of serving as guardian; and what happens in case of family conflict, abuse by a guardian, or inability of a guardian to continue serving.

Background: There are an increasing number of people living with dementia, as well as an expectation that care decisions are made collaboratively with those with the disease entering the end stage and their families. This has increased the burden on family carers. Aim: To explore the evidence on the decisional support needs of informal carers of people with end-stage dementia. Design: A rapid scoping review was undertaken of peer-reviewed publications between 2000 and 2016, which included all health-care settings and the person's own home.

[...]parties, including health-care providers, government agencies, care facilities, and financial institutions, may expect or require that your legal authority to make decisions or provide consent be based on more than being a concerned and loving caregiver. The Social Security Administration can give limited decision authority over Social Security benefits through the title of representative payee. [...]there are frequently many misunderstandings about the basics of this arrangement: * You can't get a power of attorney over someone; it has to be given to you.

Background To investigate how cancer patients, family caregiver, and their treating oncologist view the risks and benefits of family involvement in cancer treatment decision making (TDM) or the degree to which these perceptions may differ. Patients and Methods A nationwide, multicenter survey was conducted with 134 oncologists and 725 of their patients and accompanying caregivers. Participant answered to modified Control Preferences Scale and investigator-developed questionnaire regarding family involvement in cancer TDM.

Background For people living with dementia, the capacity to make important decisions about themselves diminishes as their condition advances. As a result, important decisions (affecting lifestyle, medical treatment and end of life) become the responsibility of someone else, as the surrogate decision-maker. This study investigated how surrogate decision-makers make important decisions on behalf of a person living with dementia.

Frailty is a common condition in older age and is a public health concern which requires integrated care and involves different stakeholders. This meta-synthesis focuses on experiences, understanding, and attitudes towards screening, care, intervention and prevention for frailty across frail and healthy older persons, caregivers, health and social care practitioners. Studies published since 2001 were identified through search of electronic databases; 81 eligible papers were identified and read in full, and 45 papers were finally included and synthesized.

To improve the care of seniors living with dementia, current initiatives typically target better identification and treatment of the patient. Our recent survey, however, shows we should also focus more on the needs of the informal caregivers who care for this population in primary care settings. This three-round Delphi survey sought caregivers' views on the most frequent and difficult decisions that seniors with dementia, their informal caregivers, and health care providers face in primary care settings in the province of Quebec.

Background: Persons with dementia (PWDs) and their caregivers often face difficult housing decisions, that is, decisions about their living arrangements, in which the perspectives of all members of the care network should be involved.; Objective: We performed a qualitative data analysis to assess the extent to which housing decisions for PWDs with their formal and informal caregivers correspond to an interprofessional shared decision making (IP-SDM) approach, and what light this approach sheds on their experiences with decision making.; Research Des

BACKGROUND: Problematic communication among providers, patients, and their family members can affect the quality of patient care, causing stress to all parties involved and decreased opportunities for collaborative decision making. OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this article is to present one case from a pilot study of a family caregiver intervention focused on communication. METHODS: The nurse-delivered communication intervention includes a written communication guide for family caregivers, as well as a one-time nurse communication coaching call.