Journal article

Background: Unpaid, informal carers or caregivers play an important role in supporting people living with dementia but the role can be challenging and carers themselves may benefit from support. Alzheimer’s, dementia or memory cafés are one such form of support . These cafés are usually provided in the voluntary sector and are a place where people with dementia and those supporting them, usually family carers, can meet with others in similar situations.

Aging populations, the increased prevalence of chronic disease, and spiraling healthcare costs have led to calls for policy and technology that focuses on wellness management, preventative interventions, and decentralized healthcare. This has prompted several initiatives aimed at empowering individuals to proactively manage their wellness, including employee wellness programmes, step-tracking mobile apps, etc. However, a critical actor in this proposed new healthcare model is the family carer.

Distress is commonly experienced by those caring for someone with dementia, and can occur whether the carer is living with a person with dementia, or supporting a person with dementia who lives alone to maintain their independence. It is essential for health and social care professionals to support family carers to balance their needs with those of the person they care for. However, this might be challenging because many influencing factors can affect these needs, and identifying the needs of the family carer and balancing them with the needs of the person with dementia is often complex.

Background For people living with dementia, the capacity to make important decisions about themselves diminishes as their condition advances. As a result, important decisions (affecting lifestyle, medical treatment and end of life) become the responsibility of someone else, as the surrogate decision-maker. This study investigated how surrogate decision-makers make important decisions on behalf of a person living with dementia.

Objectives: Stigma compounds the burden experienced by family members of those with a mental illness. This study aimed to examine burden experienced by carers of people with schizophrenia or affective disorders and to explore the relationship between carer burden and stigma. Method: A cross sectional descriptive study was conducted with patient-carer dyads involving 67 patients diagnosed with schizophrenia and 51 diagnosed with affective disorder.

Context: Carers' needs in advanced disease, and specifically in relation to breathlessness, are well evidenced. Publications on educational interventions for carers of patients with advanced disease that focus on symptoms are scarce and absent for breathlessness. Objectives: To establish current education provided by clinicians for carers of patients with breathlessness in advanced disease, views about educating carers about breathlessness, and relevant outcomes for a future randomized controlled trial of an educational intervention for carers.

Knowledge about family caregivers in rural areas remains sparse. No studies to date have addressed the sociocultural aspects in caregiving, thus neglecting potentially significant data. This study aimed to explore and better understand family caregivers' experiences in rural and urban areas and the sociocultural spheres that these two areas represent. How do family caregivers approach their caregiving situation? A hermeneutical approach was chosen to uncover the underlying meanings of experiences. Open-ended in-depth interviews were conducted.

Objectives Severe necrotising soft tissue infections (NSTI) are rare life threatening rapidly progressing bacterial infections requiring immediate diagnosis and treatment. The aim of the study was to explore the experience of family caregivers of patients with necrotising soft tissue infection during the acute stage of disease. Methods Our study had a qualitative descriptive binational design using qualitative content analysis to explore diaries written by close family members (n=15).

We aimed to investigate the levels of anxiety, depression, satisfaction with information provision and cancer‐related knowledge in partners of head and neck cancer (HNC) patients receiving a Multimode Comprehensive Tailored Information Package (MCTIP). A non‐randomised, controlled trial was conducted with partners of HNC patients recruited at two academic hospitals in Montreal. The Test participants received the MCTIP, while the Control participants received information in an ad hoc manner.

Carer distress is an all too common factor in caring for someone with dementia, whether living with the person with dementia, or trying to maintain their independence when they are living alone. Providing support for families on many day-to-day issues with immediacy as and when they arise can be very difficult to achieve for services on the ground as carer need can be difficult to anticipate as well as the changing status of the person with dementia.