Ducharme, Francine

Aims: To synthesize factors that facilitates or hinders the choice of a new living environment for a person with dementia by the informal caregiver.; Background: In an effort to develop evidenced-based interventions to support caregivers, it is essential to explore their experience.; Design: A qualitative systematic review using thematic synthesis. Studies published up to July 2019 were retrieved from four electronic databases.

Objectives: To investigate the characteristics of the caregiving experience according to age at onset of dementia to adapt support programmes. Method: Fifty-seven spouse caregivers of persons with early-onset dementia (PEOD) and 93 spouse caregivers of persons with late-onset dementia (PLOD) participated. The characteristics of the caregiving experience were assessed using questionnaires. The authors compared the two groups according to age at onset of the disease using a multivariate test, Pillai's Trace test.

This paper reviews recent research on care-giver networks and the concepts and approach that they apply, with particular reference to the support networks of the primary care-givers of older people with Alzheimer's disease. It makes the case for an integrated approach to the explanation of the various combinations of formal and informal support that are found. It argues that more attention needs to be given to transformations in care-giver networks over time, and that this will require more development of both theoretical perspectives and analytical tools.