Medical care -- quality control

Many people with dementia are cared for in their homes by family caregivers. As the dementia progresses, admission of the family member to a nursing home becomes inevitable. The aim of this meta-ethnographic study was to describe caregivers’ experiences of relinquishing the care of a family member with dementia to a nursing home. A systematic literature search of PubMed, Cinahl and PsychInfo, between the years 1992 and 2012, was performed, and 10 qualitative articles, based on 180 family caregivers’ experiences, were included.

The authors reflect on the importance of learning and development for transforming dementia and end-of-life care. Topics discussed include dependency of quality of dementia care on care providers including registered practitioners, support staff and informal carers, focus on person-centred care and building the leadership skills and confidence to influence care given by diverse and multiprofessional team.

The aim of the study was to examine the effect of informal care levels on overall discontinuation of living at home, all-cause death, hospital admission, and long-term care placement for community-dwelling older people using various community-based services during a 3-year period. Prospective cohort study of 1582 community-dwelling disabled elderly and paired informal caregivers was conducted.

Bereaved people in England rate the care provided by hospitals at the end of their relative’s life lower than that provided by hospices, care homes, and services in the community, show the results of a survey published by the Office for National Statistics.1

Overall, 75% of bereaved people rated the quality of care of their relative or friend in the last three months of life as outstanding, excellent, or good and 10% as poor, found the annual national survey of bereaved people, VOICES (Views of Informal Carers—Evaluation of Services).

Aims and objectives: The purpose of our paper was to explore primary caregivers' experience of the way public mental health nurses and other mental health clinicians responded to them as primary carers of older adults with mental illness.

Background: As populations age, the prevalence of mental illness in older adults will increase and the burden of care placed on family carers will intensify. While family carers are essential to the well-being and quality of life of older adults with mental illness, they frequently experience marginalisation from clinicians.

Context: A number of studies have highlighted the poor quality of end-of-life (EOL) care provided in hospital settings, leading to a reduction in the quality of EOL care and increase in patient and caregiver dissatisfaction levels.

Objectives: The aims of this study were the evaluation of the prevalence of major symptoms, treatment, outcomes, information, and care provided to dying cancer patients in Italian hospitals; and an analysis of clinical and socio-demographic factors associated with caregiver satisfaction with the health care provided.

The article discusses research by Livingston, Leavey, and Manela on dementia and carer involvement and a study by Thuné-Boyle, Sampson, and Jones on the understanding of informal carers' and healthcare professionals of advanced dementia and their attitudes towards end of life care. Livingston's research identified five core problematic areas including accessing dementia-related services, care homes, and legal / financial matters.