Dementia

Due to projected growth of the 65-and-older population and concerns of an impending care gap, reliance on informal caregivers is expected to increase. Improving support for informal caregivers is viewed as a national priority, yet research related to the unmet support needs of informal caregivers is limited.

Objectives: Historically, dementia has not been recognised as a life-limiting condition or one that may benefit from a palliative approach to its care. There are many challenges in providing palliative and end-of-life care to this group of people, some of which may be reduced through advance care planning (ACP) to support people with dementia to have a greater influence on their care at end of life.

Objectives: Gold-standard overnight polysomnography does not reliably capture highly variable sleep patterns across the 24-hour day that are common with dementia and often problematic for carers. We evaluated the reliability of automatically scored actigraphy data as an alternative. Methods: Actigraphy recordings were analysed from 15 community-dwelling people with dementia (135 days total) and 14 of their family carers (124 days total). Manual scoring used participant sleep diaries to identify sleep periods.

Introduction: Health policy promotes living well with dementia. Occupational therapists deliver interventions to support people with dementia and family carers to live well. This study aimed at identifying influences on uptake of a community occupational therapy intervention by people with dementia and carers, as little evidence about this topic exists. Method: Seventeen semi-structured, paired interviews with people with dementia and carers were conducted as part of the ‘Valuing Active Life in Dementia’ research programme.

Currently there is a lack of understanding of dementia by the general public in Taiwan, and more importantly, those who care for dementia suffers. The aim of the current Educational Programme (EP) was to help the participants increase their knowledge of dementia, and thus to strengthen their caring skills for dealing with the Older Adults with Dementia (OAwD). The programme involved 282 participants and took 15 months to complete. All those participated were non-professional, private carers who looked after their family members that suffer from dementia.

Dementia caregiving is costly for society and has been linked to many adverse outcomes in the caregiver, including financial and occupational strain, greater psychological distress, and physical comorbidities, together termed “caregiver burden.” Certain dementia care recipient characteristics, such as the presence of neuropsychiatric symptoms (e.g., hallucinations, agitation), are associated with high caregiver burden. One neuropsychiatric symptom, sexual disinhibition, has received little research attention.

Purpose We aimed to address gaps identified in the evidence base and instruments available to measure the quality of life (QOL) of family carers of people with dementia, and develop a new brief, reliable, condition-specific instrument. Methods We generated measurable domains and indicators of carer QOL from systematic literature reviews and qualitative interviews with 32 family carers and 9 support staff, and two focus groups with 6 carers and 5 staff.

Objective: The support and service needs of people with dementia and their carers are not always addressed in rural regions, yet family carers play an important role in supporting the person living with dementia to remain living in their own home. This study sought to identify and prioritise service and support needs of people with dementia and carers. Design: A two-phase mixed methods study involving qualitative focus groups and a survey. Setting: A rural region in Victoria, Australia.

Services for people with dementia and their families in England are commissioned with a lack of integration and an inconsistent approach creating gaps in service provision. Therefore, families affected by dementia are not receiving the appropriate care in a timely manner and often access support at crisis point. This reactive and crisis driven approach to care is costly financially and can have a negative impact and quality of life of those affected.

According to Alzheimers New Zealand, the number of New Zealanders with dementia is expected to exceed 170,000 by 2050.1 Dementia refers to a collection of progressive neurodegenerative illnesses, including Alzheimer's disease, vascular dementia and Lewy body type.