Program evaluation

Objective: The death of a child from cancer is an intense and life-changing loss for a parent. Guided by the principles of patient- and family-centered care, hospital-based caregivers developed a program to provide bereavement support for parents through phone calls and mailings.

Objectives: To examine the effect of the Department of Veterans Affairs' (VA) Program of Comprehensive Assistance for Caregivers (PCAFC) on total VA health care costs for Veterans. Data Sources: VA claims. Study Design: Using a pre-post cohort design with nonequivalent control group, we estimated the effect of PCAFC on total VA costs up through 6 years. The treatment group included Veterans (n = 32 394) whose caregivers enrolled in PCAFC.

A family peer-education program for mental disorders was developed in Japan, similar to existing programs in the United States and Hong Kong. Families that serve as facilitators in such programs may enhance their caregiving processes and, thereby, their well-being. This study's aim was to describe how families' caregiving experiences change, beginning with the onset of a family member's mental illness, through their involvement in a family group or peer-education program as participants then facilitators.

Introduction: Primary healthcare professionals will increasingly be required to manage and optimise their treatment for patients with dementia. With DementiaNet, we aim to reduce the burden of dementia on healthcare services and society through implementation and facilitation of integrated network-based care with increased dementia expertise. DementiaNet is designed as a stepwise approach including clinical leadership, quality improvement cycles and interprofessional training, which are tailor-made to the local context.

Objectives: The Chronic Disease Self-Management Program (CDSMP) was developed to advance participants' self-care of chronic illness and may be offered to both individuals with chronic conditions and their caregivers. Previous studies of CDSMP have identified multiple resulting health benefits for participants as well as factors associated with participants' completion rates.

In 2006 the Scottish Government provided just over £8 million to help 32 health and social care partnerships to develop telecare services. This paper presents a summary of the 2007-2008 evaluation of the Scottish Telecare Development. This evaluation focused on measuring overall program progress toward eight predefined Scottish Telecare Development objectives. Results indicate that the initial investment has resulted in significant savings to the health and social care sectors.

Aim  To evaluate the telecare service offered by Home Care teams to patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

Background  The use of telecare aims to support older people in remaining independent at home, reducing hospital admissions and improving the quality of life for older people and their informal carers. In the redesign of managed care for people with COPD using telecare, an evaluation of the implementation process is necessary.

Informal carers of home palliative care patients have high unmet needs. However, interventions for carers are few. This research-based short-term group intervention addresses the information and support needs of carers. Multiprofessional informal teaching is combined with peer support. The intervention was designed by integrating the findings from a qualitative study and the evidence on needs and interventions, in order to address the key issues of feasibility, acceptability, and accessibility.

This focus of this article is a qualitative, evaluative study of three Crossroads young carers projects. Focus group discussions took place with 24 young people aged 11-16 years. Data were analysed using a thematic content analysis approach. The themes of the research were: experiences of being a young carer, peer support, opportunities for time out and purposeful activities. The personal characteristics of the participants give rise to a number of worrying conclusions, that relatively young people were found to be undertaking primary caring roles over long periods of time.

The increase of chronic illness as a leading cause of death has given rise to self-care and expert patient initiatives. Caring for chronically ill people places a tremendous economic burden on the health care system, informal carers, the labour market and benefit system (Department of Health 2001, 2004, 2005). Thus, in many countries health policy encourages patients to become ‘experts’ in the self-management of their conditions in the belief that it will help save money and improve health and well-being (Wanless 2002).