Evaluation

Objective: Financial hardship is frequently posited as a significant factor influencing family health and adjustment after brain injury, though traditional methods of measurement have shown limited usefulness. The purpose of this study was to adapt and test the utility of a brief scale of financial hardship (BSFH-BI) for use with family caregivers after TBI. Methods: The researchers constructed the BSFH-BI using financial well-being items adapted from three survey instruments.

Background Stroke affects the entire family system. Failure to meet the needs of caregivers leads to physical and mental overburdening. Stroke caregivers may benefit from professional support. The literature reviews have shown that there is still no clarity concerning the most appropriate set-up of a support programme. In Germany, there is no stroke caregiver support programme that operates throughout the course of rehabilitation. Aim The aim was to develop a complex intervention programme for stroke caregivers in North-Rhine Westphalia, Germany.

While political and public interest in providing support for family carers is growing, so called young carers and young adult carers—young persons under the ages of 18 and 25 respectively—mostly remain unrecognised. Yet, this vulnerable group is in need of special attention and support from professionals in order to get along with the situation of an ill family member and the caring duties they perform.

Background A diagnosis of serious mental illness can impact on the whole family. Families informally provide significant amounts of care but are disproportionately at risk of carer burden when compared to those supporting people with other long-term conditions. Shared decision making (SDM) is an ethical model of health communication associated with positive health outcomes; however, there has been little research to evaluate how routinely family is invited to participate in SDM, or what this looks like in practice.

Supporting family carers is likely to remain at the forefront of community care policy in dementia care for the foreseeable future. However, despite extensive research in the area there is little evidence for the effectiveness of current interventions. Using data from an Australian study of how carers of people with dementia cope with the challenges they face, this article calls for a re-appraisal of the ways in which a successful intervention is defined and promotes an approach based on partnership in which carers themselves play a significant role in determining 'what works'.

This paper presents verification data for a multimedia software application intended to enhance carers' ability to respond to everyday difficulties and emergency situations. The program provides educational information about first aid, how to deal with everyday problems and a number of emergency situations such as bleeding, falling and choking. An evaluation plan was developed, including instruments for measuring and assessing usability.

The purpose of this pilot project was to test the feasibility of a telephone support group intervention for persons with hemophilia and HIV/AIDS and for their family caregivers. Their support needs were unique because they did not identify with predominant groups of persons with AIDS and were geographically dispersed from peers. The 12 week intervention involved separate telephone support groups for hemophiliacs and for family caregivers. The two groups, comprised of a predetermined maximum of six people, were co-led by a professional and a peer.

Examines the effect of carer stress management using the Carers' Checklist (Hodgson et al 1998) as a measure of outcome. Pre-course and post-course questionnaires were used with carers, who agreed to attend a structured stress management course. The carers who attended demonstrated a better awareness and understanding of stress and its management following the course. Positive measures of outcome were also determined by a decrease in the carers' rating in frequency of dementia-related problems, carer burden of dementia-related problems and overall carer burden.

We conducted a systematic review of the effectiveness of networked ICT interventions in supporting carers of people with dementia. Five bibliographic databases were searched and a total of 1,456 abstracts were identified as potentially relevant. From these we identified 15 papers describing five interventions: ComputerLink, AlzOnline, Caring for Others and two studies from the REACH project (TLC and CTIS). The interventions reviewed were multifaceted with elements of networked peer support.

This article describes an innovative project for people with dementia and their carers at Glyndebourne Opera House. During November and December 2008 and 2009, the Glyndebourne education department provided a series of 4 sessions for people with dementia and their carers. The Glyndebourne project was jointly funded and developed through a partnership between Glyndebourne Festival Opera and the Lewes Villages Dementia Carers Outreach Service. Between 20 and 30 people with dementia and their carers took part in the project each year.