older people

Telephone-mediated group programs are an important but under-utilized medium for reaching frail or disabled older persons' family carers who are in need of support. The primary purpose and style of group programs can range across a broad spectrum–encompassing educational, supportive and therapeutic types. Gerontological social workers are the members of the multidisciplinary care team whose training, experience and supervision makes them most suitable for facilitating this broad range of group types.

Examined were the impact of exercise barriers and carer attitudes regarding exercise outcomes on the exercise participation of adults with Down syndrome (DS). The sample included 44 adults age 30 years and older with DS and mild to moderate intellectual disability and their carers (family members or staff). Measures included personal characteristics of the adults with DS (age, level of adaptive behavior, and health status), carer perceived outcomes of exercise for people with DS, socio-emotional barriers, and access barriers to exercising.

We conducted a mixed-methods knowledge synthesis to assess the effectiveness of interventions to improve caregivers' involvement in decision making with seniors, and to describe caregivers' experiences of decision making in the absence of interventions. We analyzed forty-nine qualitative, fourteen quantitative, and three mixed-methods studies. The qualitative studies indicated that caregivers had unmet needs for information, discussions of values and needs, and decision support, which led to negative sentiments after decision making.

The Access Initiative is run by the Minority Ethnic Carers of Older People Project in partnership with Edinburgh Council, West Lothian Council, minority ethnic carers, and older people. Its twin aims are to give carers from Edinburgh's south Asian and Chinese communities a break from caring and to provide culturally competent services for older members of the family who need care. [Introduction]

As more people are living longer this growing number of older people means an increase in mental health problems. Twenty-five per cent of people over 85 develop dementia and between ten and sixteen per cent of those over 65 develop clinical depression. In addition, people who developed severe and enduring mental health problems such as schizophrenia when young are now growing older (Audit Commission, 2000). Most people with dementia live in the community. About half are cared for at home by a family carer, usually a spouse or adult child (Keady & Nolan, 1995).

Objective. Treatment decisions in life threatening situations (TD) are poorly studied in people with dementia.

Method. The carers of people with dementia were asked four TD questions, pertaining to cardiac resuscitation, intravenous fluids, oral antibiotics and intravenous antibiotics. The impact of key variables (age, dementia severity, psychiatric co-morbidity, physical illness, family relationship of carer) on TD were evaluated.

Provides an overview of recent research which aimed to development of a 'profile' of older carers. The review increases understanding of who cares in later life and offers a detailed 'profile' of older carers in the UK.

BACKGROUND: Informal caregivers of people with dementia are challenged in managing the consequences of dementia in daily life. The objective of this meta-review was to synthesize evidence from previous systematic reviews about professional self-management support interventions for this group.