Ewing, Gail

Introduction: The Carer Support Needs Assessment Tool encompasses the physical, psychological, social, practical, financial, and spiritual support needs that government policies in many countries emphasize should be assessed and addressed for family caregivers during end-of-life care. Aim: To describe the experience of family caregivers of terminally ill people of the Carer Support Needs Assessment Tool intervention in home-based palliative care.

Objective: Investigated clinical effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of a person-centred intervention for informal carers/caregivers of stroke survivors. Design: Pragmatic cluster randomised controlled trial (cRCT) with economic and process evaluation. Setting: Clusters were services, from a UK voluntary sector specialist provider, delivering support primarily in the homes of stroke survivors and informal carers. Participants: Adult carers in participating clusters were referred to the study by cluster staff following initial support contact.

Background: Family caregivers often report having unmet support needs when caring for someone with life-threatening illness. They are at risk for psychological distress, adverse physical symptoms and negatively affected quality of life. Objectives: This study aims to explore associations between family caregivers’ support needs and quality of life when caring for a spouse receiving specialized palliative home care.

Objectives: To examine the implementation of an intervention to support informal caregivers and to help understand findings from the Organising Support for Carers of Stroke Survivors (OSCARSS) cluster randomised controlled trial (cRCT). Design: Longitudinal process evaluation using mixed methods. Normalisation process theory informed data collection and provided a sensitising framework for analysis.

Objectives Motor neurone disease (MND) is a progressive, life-limiting illness. Caregiving impacts greatly on family carers with few supportive interventions for carers. We report Stages 1 and 2 of a study to: (1) explore experiences of MND caregiving and use carer-identified support needs to determine suitability and acceptability of the Carer Support Needs Assessment Tool (CSNAT), (2) adapt the CSNAT as necessary for comprehensive assessment and support of MND carers, prior to (Stage 3) feasibility testing.

Background: The Carer Support Needs Assessment Tool intervention (CSNAT-I) has been shown to improve end-of-life care support for informal caregivers. This study investigated the impact of the CSNAT-I on caregivers of patients recently enrolled in specialised palliative care (SPC) at home in Denmark.; Methods: A stepped-wedge cluster randomised controlled trial with nine clusters (ie, SPC teams).

Background: Informal carers are essential in enabling discharge home from hospital at end of life and supporting palliative patients at home, but are often ill-prepared for the role. Carers' support needs are rarely considered at discharge. If carers are less able to cope with home care, patient care may suffer and readmission may become more likely. Aim: To investigate the implementation of an evidence-based Carer Support Needs Assessment Tool (CSNAT) intervention to support carers during hospital discharge at end of life.

A working list of things to be aware of/ consider in supporting informal carers (family and friends who support patients in an unpaid role) impacted by COVID-19. This is partly evidence-based and partly grounded in our combined experience of working in applied research on informal carer support needs

Background: Stroke often results in chronic disability, with partners and family members taking on the role of informal caregiver. There is considerable uncertainty regarding how best to identify and address carers' needs. The Carer Support Needs Assessment Tool (CSNAT) is a carer-led approach to individualised assessment and support for caregiving that may be beneficial in palliative care contexts. CSNAT includes an implementation toolkit.

Background: Family carers are crucial in enabling dying people to stay at home, but are often not prepared for their caring role, receiving little support from formal health and social care services.