BMJ

Objective: To identify the key themes for evaluating the quality of initiatives to engage patients and family caregivers in decision-making across the organisation and system domains of healthcare systems. Methods: We conducted a scoping review. Seven databases of journal articles were searched from their inception to June 2019. Eligible articles were literature reviews published in English and provided useful information for determining aspects of engaging patients and family caregivers in decision-making to evaluate.

Background: Informal (unpaid) caregivers play an essential role in caring for older people, whose care needs are often not fully met by formal services. While providing informal care may be a positive experience, it can also exert a considerable strain on caregivers' physical and mental health. How to best support the needs of informal caregivers remains largely debated.

Objectives: We aimed to analyse the degree of carer burden and depressive symptoms in family carers of persons with age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and explore the factors independently associated with carer burden and depressive symptoms. Methods: Cross-sectional study using self-administered and interviewer-administered surveys, involving 96 family carer-care recipient pairs. Participants were identified from tertiary ophthalmology clinics in Sydney, Australia, as well as the Macular Disease Foundation of Australia database.

Objective: To investigate the care needs of dying patients and their family caregivers in hospice and palliative care in mainland China. Methods: A search for English and Chinese quantitative and qualitative studies was performed using the following English databases: PubMed (Medline), CINAHL and PsycINFO, as well as Chinese databases: SinoMed and CNKI. The records were independently screened by two reviewers and critiqued using Joanna Briggs Institute Critical Appraisal tools.

Introduction: In the Swiss canton of Valais, the first cases of SARS-CoV-2 were detected on 28 February 2020. Discharged patients’ and their family caregivers’ experiences in relation to safety, quality of care, trust and communication during the COVID-19 hospitalisation period remain unexplored. The study aims to collect the patient-reported experience measures (PREMs) survey of patients discharged during the COVID-19 pandemic and their family caregivers.

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.

Informal family caregivers play a crucial role in end-of-life care, especially in the community. However, family caregivers are known to have high needs and psychological morbidity, including fatigue, sleep problems, depression, anxiety and burnout. Palliative care aims to provide psychosocial support to patients and families facing terminal illness.