Elsevier inc

Background: Patients newly-diagnosed with advanced cancer often rely on family caregivers to provide daily support to manage healthcare needs and maintain quality of life. Early telehealth palliative care has been shown to effectively provide an extra layer of support to family caregivers, however there has been little work with underserved populations, especially African-Americans and rural-dwellers. This is concerning given the lack of palliative care access for these underserved groups.

Background: Active involvement of relatives has the potential to improve postoperative patient outcomes by prevention of complications sensitive to basic care and unplanned readmissions. The aim of this study was to assess the feasibility of a program in which relatives participated in postoperative care.; Methods: A pragmatic feasibility trial conducted at the surgical ward of a University hospital in the Netherlands.

Context/objectives: We sought to characterize patterns of social support types (i.e., emotional, informational, appraisal, and instrumental) within the caregiver/spouse, family, and spiritual/religious contexts for patients diagnosed with cancer.; Methods: Focus groups were conducted with mixed groups of patients with cancer and caregiver/family members at a Midwestern comprehensive cancer center. Participants completed brief demographic questionnaires. Focus groups were moderated using semistructured interviews.

Objective Investigate effectiveness of a 5-session manualized intervention for addressing needs of caregivers of persons in acute traumatic brain injury (TBI) rehabilitation. Design Prospective, pilot randomized controlled trial. Setting Inpatient brain injury rehabilitation unit, level 1 trauma center. Participants Patients (N=93) with moderate-to-severe TBI and their family members were enrolled in the study with 42 randomized to the treatment group, 51 to the control group.

Objective: To examine the change over 1 year in the burden, wheelchair skills, social support, social participation, and mental health of family caregivers providing assistance to older adult powered wheelchair users.; Design: Longitudinal study.; Setting: Community.; Participants: Participants (N=35) included family caregivers (mean age ± SD=63.7±10.2y) who provided at least 2 hours of general care per week for a powered wheelchair user.; Intervention: Not applicable.; Main Outcome Measures

Objectives: To explore the feasibility and efficacy of web-based mindfulness training for carers of people with spinal cord injury (SCI).; Design: Randomized controlled feasibility study with 3-month follow-up.; Setting: Community setting.; Participants: Spouses or family caregivers (N=55) of people with SCI and chronic neuropathic pain were recruited via the direct care team and advertisements. Participants were older than 18 years (no upper age limit), with Internet access for the duration of the study.

Background: The impact of total knee arthroplasty (TKA) on patients' informal caregivers (eg, family members, friends) has gone largely ignored. The goals of this study are to measure the impact of TKA on the caregiver and identify factors contributing to higher burden.; Methods: One hundred fifty primary TKA patients and their designated caregivers were prospectively enrolled. The Caregiver Strain Index (CSI) was completed by caregivers preoperatively, at 4 weeks, and at 1 year after surgery.

Objective: To assess the association between perceived stigma and discrimination and caregiver strain, caregiver well-being, and patient community reintegration.; Design: A cross-sectional survey study of 564 informal caregivers of U.S. military service veterans of wars in Iraq and Afghanistan who experienced traumatic brain injuries or polytrauma (TBI/PT).; Setting: Care settings of community-dwelling former inpatients of U.S.

Purpose: To investigate the status of caregiver burden and to identify the factors related to caregiver burden among Chinese family caregivers of patients with lung cancer.; Methods: A cross-sectional design with convenience sampling was used in this study. Participants (N = 116) from the oncology inpatient ward at one teaching hospital in Chengdu were recruited from June 2015 to June 2016.

Objectives To explore associations between carer burden and characteristics of (1) the informal carer, (2) the person with dementia, and (3) the care support network in 8 European countries. Design Cross-sectional study. Setting People with dementia judged at risk of admission to long-term care (LTC) facilities in 8 European countries (Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom).