Dementia

Background/Objective: Alzheimer-type dementia is one of the most frequent causes of dependence in an aging population, which combines with a considerable demand for care. Furthermore, when the caregiver is a family member or person without specialized training, such care impacts on that person's health. The Inventory of Overburden in Alzheimer's Patient Family Caregivers with no Specialized Training (IPSO-CA24) was designed to find out the needs of these caregivers and evaluate the caregiver's burden or distress.

Purpose of the Study: Numerous adverse physiological and psychological effects of family caregiving are documented in the literature. However, there is little knowledge about family caregivers after caregiving ends. The purpose of this study is to examine the health of former family caregivers and describe their experiences following the death of a care recipient with dementia. Methods: Eight former family caregivers were recruited using convenience sampling.

Aim: To explore the experience and the preparedness of family carers in their caregiving role as best interest decision-makers of a relative living with advanced dementia. Background: The prevalence of dementia is a global issue. The role of being a carer of a relative living with dementia does not necessarily lessen once they are admitted to a nursing home. Best interest decision-making including end-of-life care decisions need to be made and reaching these choices can be challenging.

Background: In dementia care, a large number of treatment decisions are made by family carers on behalf of their family member who lacks decisional capacity; advance care planning can support such carers in the decision-making of care goals. However, given the relative importance of advance care planning in dementia care, the prevalence of advance care planning in dementia care is poor. Aim: To evaluate the effectiveness of advance care planning with family carers in dementia care homes. Design: Paired cluster randomized controlled trial.

Background: People with dementia and family carers often experience difficulties communicating together. These difficulties are considered to contribute significantly to the depression, anxiety and negative feelings such as guilt often reported by dementia family carers. Aims: To develop and contribute to the theory and evidence base for single‐component, psychosocial interventions that address these difficulties by evaluating the effectiveness of the Talking Sense programme which was designed to reflect existing best evidence.

Purpose: To evaluate the degree of psychological distress in family caregivers of people with dementia. Design and Methods: A nonprobabilistic sample of 54 dyads (people with dementia and family caregivers) was recruited. A sociodemographic questionnaire, the Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI), and the Barthel Index were used for data collection. Findings: About half of the caregivers had significant levels of psychological distress.

Purpose of the study: Populations in Latin America, Asia and sub-Saharan Africa are rapidly ageing. The extent to which traditional systems of family support and security can manage the care of increased numbers of older people with chronic health problems is unclear. Our aim was to explore the social and economic effects of caring for an older dependent person, including insight into pathways to economic vulnerability.

Background: The carer-delivered individual cognitive stimulation therapy (iCST) was developed to improve cognition and quality of life of people with dementia. This study aims to explore people with dementia and family carers' concepts of mental stimulation and experiences of participating in the iCST intervention.; Methods: A sub-sample of 23 dyads of people with dementia and their family carers who completed the iCST intervention took part in semi-structured in-depth interviews.

Aims and objectives: To identify preclinical signs of dementia by exploring the experiences of family caregivers and professional care assistants. Background: Dementia results in disability, emotional strain and financial loss for people with dementia, family members and nations. Informal identification of social and behavioural risk signifiers could facilitate timely interventions with potential to delay onset of serious disability. Design: A retrospective qualitative approach using a naturalistic interpretive design was used.

Objectives: To examine the effects of a telephone-delivered intervention, Family Intervention: Telephone Tracking-Caregiver (FITT-C), on community support and healthcare use by dementia caregivers.; Design: Randomized, controlled trial.; Setting: Academic medical center.; Participants: Dyads (n = 250) of distressed informal dementia caregivers and care recipients.; Intervention: Caregivers were randomly assigned to receive the FITT-C (n = 133) or telephone support (TS; n = 117).