Informal caregiver

Background: Informal care is often not included in economic evaluations in healthcare, while the impact of caregiving can be relevant for cost-effectiveness recommendations from a societal perspective. The impact of informal care can be measured and valued with the CarerQol instrument, which measures the impact of informal care on seven important burden dimensions (CarerQol-7D) and values this in terms of general quality of life (CarerQol-VAS).

Purpose: Informal caregivers (ICs) provide care and improve the quality of life of patients with malignant brain tumor. We analyze the impact of their involvement on themselves from a triple perspective.

In salutogenic theory, individual/contextual, immaterial/material characteristics enabling movements towards health are labelled Specific and Generalised Resistance Resources, SRRs/GRRs, and characteristics counteracting such movements Specific and Generalised Resistance Deficits, SRDs/GRDs. The aim of this paper was to present SRDs and GRDs described by caregivers as stemming from themselves and their care recipient. Guided by salutogenic theory, an explorative design was used to collect data through interviews with 32 Swedish informal caregivers.

Background: More than 5.4 million informal caregivers (ICGs) in the United States care for persons with dementia (PWD). Failure of ICGs to incorporate self-care into their routine may lead to adverse health consequences.

Purpose: To describe the experiences of informal caregivers with the nursing care received by relatives hospitalized for mania.; Design and Methods: Multicenter phenomenological study using open interviews. Data were analyzed using the Stevick-Colaizzi-Keen method.; Findings: The essence of the experiences was the importance of communication, about being informed and involved in treatment during hospitalization of their relative.

Background: Oldest-old persons frequently receive potentially inappropriate medication. Medication use takes place under the patients' informal caregivers' influence. We explored informal caregivers' perspectives on medication of (relatively) independent oldest-old persons to identify starting points for safer medication prescription/handling.; Methods: In this exploratory qualitative interview study we interviewed 45 informal caregivers of 45 oldest-old persons (23 with potentially inappropriate medication/22 without potentially inappropriate medication).

Objective: This study was conducted to describe care arrangements for persons with dementia (PwDs) who are living at home with the support of a dementia care network (DCN).; Method: Data on the utilization of formal and informal support were collected in face-to-face interviews at baseline and 1-year follow-up with PwDs and caregivers receiving support from 1 of 13 DCNs.; Results: Men with dementia were supported by twice as many informal caregivers as women (2 vs. 1, respectively, p < .001).

Purpose: Map the literature about valued activities and informal caregiving post stroke and determine the nature, extent, and consequences of caregivers' activity changes.; Methods: A scoping review was undertaken, searching Pubmed, Cinahl, PsycInfo, and Google Scholar. Two researchers independently identified relevant articles, extracted study characteristics and findings, and assigned codes describing the topics and outcomes.

Objective: The aim of this study was to explore the support needs of Dutch informal caregivers of patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).; Method: Individual semi-structured interviews were conducted with 21 caregivers of ALS patients. Audio-taped interviews were transcribed and data were analyzed thematically. Result A total of four global support needs emerged: "more personal time", "assistance in applying for resources", "counseling", and "peer contact".

Research shows the stressful demands of caregiving to older family members can have negative effects on physical health. The effects on physical health may include: immune system functioning, heart rate reactivity, raised blood pressure levels, and increased risk of mortality among older spousal caregivers. Gender differences in caregivers' outcomes exist because, compared with male caregivers, female caregivers face higher levels of caregiving stressors, have fewer social resources, and report lower levels of psychological and physical health.