Elderly : nursing

The purpose of this study was to describe nurses' experiences of their collaboration and relationships with family members in institutional respite care for the elderly. The family has a particularly important role in respite care, which is an extension of care provided at home. However no published studies were found on this subject. The data were collected through qualitative interviews (N=22).

This second article on family care-givers will focus on how healthcare assistants (HCAs) can support such care-givers within a variety of care settings, including GP practices, healthcare centres, hospital departments, hospital wards and in the care-giver's own home. Suggestions for training of HCAs who are likely to work with family care-givers will be proposed.

Informal care of older people, including a summary of research on the attitudes towards willingness to care for an elderly person among members of the general public aged 20-39 years and 40-59 years. Nurses' attitudes towards elderly care nursing are also discussed. It is suggested that nurses can influence attitudes to the elderly and engage with informal carers. [(BNI unique abstract)] 11 references