Chan, E. Y.

Background: In Asian societies, the responsibility of caring for persons with dementia often falls upon an immediate family member. However, little attention has been paid to the early stages of caregiving, as well as their transition into a more experienced caregiver. Methods: Thus, a qualitative descriptive study involving a purposive sample of 11 main family caregivers of a person with newly diagnosed dementia was recruited from a tertiary hospital in Singapore.

Objectives: Caregivers of hospitalized older adults experience elevated levels of stress and are at risk of poor health outcomes. There is a lack of screening tools based on self-reported caregiver variables incorporating both protective and risk factors, for early identification of at-risk caregivers. This study reports the development of a caregiver-centric screening tool to identify risk of depression at admission and predicts 3-month risk of depression and quality of life amongst caregivers of older adults with an unplanned admission.