BioMed Central

Background: Dementia has a high burden for patients, informal caregivers and society. Given changes in care systems, more persons with dementia will live longer at home. However, living at home (with dementia) with a good quality of life is not easy to achieve. Dementia is often accompanied by neuropsychiatric symptoms like apathy, agitation, depression, and anxiety, which have a negative impact on quality of life. Whereas cognitive deterioration can hardly be influenced, it is possible to reduce neuropsychiatric symptoms.

Background: Despite the large literature analysing factors related to depression, several factors such as caregiving obligation and the interrelationships among the different variables relating to depression have been little studied. The current study aimed to analyse the effect of caregiving obligation (beliefs regarding obligation and social pressure) on depression, and the mediating effects of perceived burden on the relationship between stressors and depression, in primary caregivers of older relatives.

Caregivers of people with dementia (PwD) face burden, feelings of loneliness, and social isolation. Previous studies have shown promising effects of online e-health interventions. Using social media may facilitate support for dementia caregiver networks. In an iterative step-wise approach, a social support tool entitled "Inlife" was developed. This paper describes the design of a study evaluating the effects of Inlife and its process characteristics. Methods: A mixed-method, randomised controlled trial with 122 caregivers of PwD will be conducted.

Background: Caregiver health is a crucial public health concern due to the increasing number of elderly people with disabilities. Elderly caregivers are more likely to have poorer health and be a care recipient than younger caregivers. The Taiwan government offers home-based long-term care (LTC) services to provide formal care and decrease the burden of caregivers. This study examined the effects of home-based LTC services on caregiver health according to caregiver age.

Background Patients prescribed supplemental oxygen (O2) therapy face challenges as they adjust to being constantly “tethered” to an oxygen delivery device. Informal caregivers (ICs) of patients with pulmonary fibrosis (PF) face their own, often overlooked hardships when O2 is brought into their home and added to their lives. Our aim was to understand the multiple effects of supplemental oxygen therapy on ICs of patients with PF.

Background The purpose of this paper is to analyse the utilization of formal and informal home care among older patients with cancer (OCP) and to compare this with middle-aged patients with cancer (MCP) and older patients without cancer (ONC). Additionally, we examined predictors of transitions towards formal care one year after a cancer diagnosis. Methods OCP and MCP had to be recruited within three months after a cancer diagnosis and have an estimated life expectancy over six months.

Background: This systematic review aimed to identify the unmet care needs and their associated variables in patients with advanced cancer and informal caregivers, alongside summarizing the tools used for needs assessment.; Methods: Ten electronic databases were searched systematically from inception of each database to December 2016 to determine eligible studies. Studies that considered the unmet care needs of either adult patients with advanced cancer or informal caregivers, regardless of the study design, were included.

Objective: Examining the causal relationship between employment and informal caring to date has been impeded in countries like Ireland where there is a lack of suitable panel data and/or variables for instrument construction. This paper employs propensity score matching to control for non-random selection into treatment and control groups which controls for differences in employment outcomes between carers and non-carers in Ireland using data from Quarterly National Household Survey 2009 Quarter 3.

Background: Oldest-old persons frequently receive potentially inappropriate medication. Medication use takes place under the patients' informal caregivers' influence. We explored informal caregivers' perspectives on medication of (relatively) independent oldest-old persons to identify starting points for safer medication prescription/handling.; Methods: In this exploratory qualitative interview study we interviewed 45 informal caregivers of 45 oldest-old persons (23 with potentially inappropriate medication/22 without potentially inappropriate medication).

Background: Many studies have separately addressed the associations of informal caregiving with coresidence, a caregiver's work status, and health conditions, but not jointly. We examined how their parents' need for care affects middle-aged women's lifestyle and psychological distress, considering the potential simultaneity of decisions on caregiving and living adjustments.; Methods: We used 22,305 observations of 7037 female participants (aged 54-67 years) from a nationwide longitudinal survey in Japan conducted during 2009 and 2013.