Physiotherapy

Female family caregivers (FFCs) constitute one of the basic supports of socio-health care for dependence in developed countries. The care provided by FFCs may impact their physical and mental health, negatively affecting their quality of life. In order to alleviate the consequences of providing care on FFCs, the Spanish Public Health System has developed the family caregiver care programme (FCCP) to be applied in primary care (PC) centres. The effectiveness of this programme is limited. To date, the addition of a physical therapeutic exercise (PTE) programme to FCCP has not been evaluated.

Background: Regaining pre-hospitalization activity levels is only achieved in 30-50% of older patients. Extra physiotherapy time has been proven to improve functional outcome and shorten length of stay, but is costly. Considering their key role in caring for older people, involving informal caregivers in rehabilitation might further improve functional performance. Aim: To determine if in-hospital or post discharge caregiver involvement can increase functional performance in older adults.

Aims: This feasibility study investigates the utilization and cost of health resources related to formal and informal care, home adaptations, and physiotherapy among patients aged 60 years and above after hip fracture from a multicentre cohort study (World Hip Trauma evaluation (WHiTe)) in the UK.

Objective: To investigate the safety and effectiveness of augmenting physiotherapy with family-assisted therapy, to inform a future, fully powered trial.; Design: Parallel pilot randomized controlled trial.; Setting: Transition Care Program.; Participants: Thirty-five older adults with multimorbidity, recently hospitalized, with a mean age of 84.1 years (SD = 6.1 years) and mean Modified Barthel Index of 67.8 units (SD = 19.2 units), and 40 family members.; Interventions: The control group ( n = 18) receive

The Parkinson's Disease Society has produced a DVD, Being There, which aims to answer the questions and concerns of people newly diagnosed with the condition. Being There provides an insight into symptoms, treatments and life with Parkinson's in general, and includes interviews with people with Parkinson's, carers, and expert healthcare professionals The DVD is divided into four chapters: introduction to Parkinson's disease; treating Parkinson's; living with Parkinson's; and about the Parkinson's Disease Society.

Health professionals such as nurses, physiotherapists and occupational therapists provide a wealth of support in the community to patients and their carers receiving palliative care. Moving and handling is one such support that needs careful consideration and assessment including risk, by appropriately qualified professionals. A combination of skills are required as well as knowledge of up to date equipment to assist the health professional in deciding how to formulate safe moving and handling interventions in a timely way.