Psychology

Background: In the UK, there are currently 800 000 people living with dementia. This number is expected to double in the next 20 years. Two-thirds of people with dementia live in the community supported by informal carers. Caring for a person with dementia has adverse effects on psychological, physical, social wellbeing and quality of life. The measurement of quality of life of carers of people with dementia is increasingly of interest to health and social care practitioners and commissioners, policymakers, and carers themselves.

Affiliated stigma often refers to internalized stigma among family members of stigmatized individuals. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between affiliate stigma and quality of life (QOL) among primary caregivers of individuals with mental illness undergoing treatment at the Institute of Mental Health, Singapore. Three hundred and fifty caregivers were recruited for the study. The World Health Organization Quality of Life questionnaire (WHOQOL-BREF) and Family Stigma Scale (FSS) were administered to the primary caregivers of patients with mental illness.

Background: As with most of the chronic illnesses, the changes and consequences brought on by bipolar disorder (BD) are not exclusive to the patient and often spread to those around them, especially for direct caregivers of these patients. It is known that there is a significant emotional and physical toll among persons who coexist daily with those who suffer from this disorder.

Objective: Little is known about dementia and caregiving among the rapidly growing Vietnamese American population. This qualitative study elicited insights on culturally tailoring an intervention to address mental health needs in Vietnamese American dementia caregivers from Vietnamese American mental health professionals. Methods: Eight Vietnamese American mental health professionals were interviewed to explore: experiences working with and needs of the community; Vietnamese attitudes toward treatment; and acculturation in Vietnamese caregiving.

Background and Objectives: Approximately half the care for people with dementia is provided by families. It is therefore imperative that research informs ways of maintaining such care. In this study, we propose that a needs-led approach can provide a useful, novel means of conceptualizing the impact of caring on the lives of family carers. Our aim was to develop and present a needs-led framework for understanding how providing care impacts on carers' fulfilment of needs.

Background: Confabulations are often observed in patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) and can increase family caregivers’ burdens. Previous studies have focused on the relationship between confabulation and cognitive ability. However, few studies have investigated the association between confabulation and familial factors. Here, we aimed to examine whether confabulation relates to familial factors, such as the level of family caregivers’ expressed emotion or the level of functioning of the family.

This article offers an examination of aging processes of lifelong caregivers and the possibilities for social exclusion place experienced by parents of adult children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). This study of parental caregivers (n = 51) sheds light on how enduring caregiving roles can lead to social exclusion in three ways: misunderstanding of ASD and stigma, the complexity of the caregiving roles, and impact on daily routines including challenges with long-term planning for both the adult children and the parental caregivers.

Background: Informal dementia caregiving has traditionally been perceived as an extremely stressful process; however, more recent research has started to focus on the positive aspects of providing care. Studies indicate that caregivers who derive something positive out of caregiving have better well-being. However, there has been little exploration of the factors linked to caregivers identifying positive aspects of providing care. The aim of the current study was to explore the predictors of finding meaning in caregiving.

Recent changes in older people's public care services in Nordic countries in particular in Finland and Sweden are based on implicit expectations that family members will increase their involvement in care. In Nordic countries, the care of small children has been acknowledged to be a social matter that concerns gender equality and the work life participation of both men and women, while the situation of working carers of older people is much less acknowledged.

Background  This study was designed to test the hypothesis that carer attributions for aggressive behaviour vary according to a service user's severity of intellectual disability.