Dementia

Reports on the development of a joint mental health strategy for older people in a central London Borough. The project brought together clinicians and practitioners from a variety of settings, the voluntary sector, and users and carers. The aim of the project was to develop a shared philosophy of care based on promoting independence and from this to identify the components of a spectrum of care that would meet the wide range of needs of elders with mental ill health. The borough had high levels of deprivation, unemployment and poor housing.

The contribution made by informal carers to the provision of care in the community in the UK is formally acknowledged in the 1995 Carers (Recognition and Services) Act. This legislation has focussed attention, once again, on the relationship between formal services and those providing informal care. The Act has re-created a lack of clarity about the position carers hold in the carer dyad. Findings are presented here from an exploratory study about the experience of dementia.

Do male and female carers have different approaches to the caring role? Tina Fear presents the results of her two small qualitative studies.

Six recorded stories giving first-hand personal accounts of carers of people experiencing dementia or those nearing the end of their lives. Each story can be used to highlight and support areas of learning covered by the Care Council's Knowledge Sets for dementia and end of life care.

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.

Undertaking a literature review revealed that when evaluating the effectiveness of the drug treatments for dementia few studies purposefully explore the views of users and carers. Their views are mainly derived from secondary analysis of conventional scientific evidence. Where the views of users and carers were explored it was discovered that they evaluate the effectiveness of the drug treatments in terms of quality of life.

Many different definitions of the concept of quality of life (QOL) are found in the literature. This raises the question as to which domains are viewed as really important by people with dementia and which are possibly based on views of others, such as (in)formal carers, or theoretical models. An explorative study was carried out among people with dementia living in the community and in nursing homes. Their opinions were compared to those of professional carers and to the current theoretical models and instruments for QOL in dementia.

Objective: Insight into the characteristics of caregivers for whom psychosocial interventions are effective is important for care practice. Until now no systematic reviews were conducted into the effectiveness of psychosocial interventions for caregiver subgroups.

Methods: To gain insight into this relationship between caregiver subgroups and intervention outcomes, a first review study was done. This study reviews the personal characteristics of caregivers of people with dementia for whom psychosocial interventions were effective.

Looks at how health professionals, social services and the voluntary sector are all working together to support people with dementia and their carers at the Petersfield Centre in Harold Hill in north-east London.

Presents an overview of seven pieces of research into the needs of older people. Includes technological support, meal choices for people with dementia, and a study of the Carers' Act.