Journal article

Keshet, a course for family members of persons’ coping with mental illness, was developed to enhance positive family cognitive communication skills. Improving communication with the use of mediation techniques, primarily used by therapists, creates a learning environment viewed as a strategy of Knowledge Translation. To examine the effectiveness of Keshet in improving attitudes, problem solving, communication skills and attenuation of burden a quasi-experimental research design was applied with study and control condition.

Objectives: To understand successful strategies used by people to cope well when living with advanced cancer; to explore how professionals can support effective coping strategies; to understand how to support development of effective coping strategies for patients and family carers.; Design: Qualitative serial (4-12 week intervals) interview study with people with advanced cancer and their informal carers followed by focus groups. The iterative design had a novel focus on positive coping strategies.

Objectives: Family responsibilities and social expectations often prompt conflict in caregivers' decision-making processes. Janis and Mann's (1977) conflict model describes vigilance as high-quality decision-making resulting in optimal outcomes.

Introduction: Caring for stroke survivors may be burdensome with adverse consequences on caregivers' physical health. This study examined the prevalence of musculoskeletal symptoms and associated factors among family caregivers of stroke survivors in Nigeria. Methods: A hospital-based cross-sectional study involving 90 stroke caregiver and stroke survivor dyads was conducted. Data on the participants' demographics and post-stroke duration were obtained.

Aims: Motivated by ageing populations, healthcare policies increasingly emphasize the role of informal care. This study examines how prevalence rates of informal caregivers and intensive caregivers (i.e. those who provide informal care for at least 11 hours a week) vary between European countries, and to what extent informal caregiving and intensive caregiving relate to countries’ formal long-term care provisions and family care norms.

Background: As with most of the chronic illnesses, the changes and consequences brought on by bipolar disorder (BD) are not exclusive to the patient and often spread to those around them, especially for direct caregivers of these patients. It is known that there is a significant emotional and physical toll among persons who coexist daily with those who suffer from this disorder.

Background: Dementia care is predominantly provided by carers in home settings. We aimed to identify the priorities for homecare safety of people with dementia according to dementia health and social care professionals using a novel priority-setting method.; Methods: The project steering group determined the scope, the context and the criteria for prioritization. We then invited 185 North-West London clinicians via an open-ended questionnaire to identify three main problems and solutions relating to homecare safety of people with dementia.

Background: Prolonged grief disorder (PGD) and depression are recognized as distinct emotional-distress disorders for bereaved family caregivers. However, this distinction has been mostly validated in cross-sectional studies, neglecting the dynamic characteristics of bereaved caregivers' emotional distress. Objective: To validate the distinction between symptoms of PGD and depression across the first bereavement year for family caregivers of terminally ill cancer patients.

Severe brain injuries can have dramatic consequences on family life, often changing rules and routines and fostering intense and prolonged caregiving duties. People affected by the injuries have to face relevant restrictions in their activities and a loss of independence. Thus, primary caregivers are often involved in their assistance, which can entail the help for self-care, movements and many activities of daily living. Furthermore, cognitive and behavioural symptoms can complicate communication, disrupt previous relationships and put an additional strain on all family members.

Background: Health systems in low and lower-middle income countries, particularly in sub-Sahara Africa, often lack the specialized personnel and infrastructure to provide comprehensive care for elderly/ageing populations. Close- to-client community-based approaches are a low-cost way of providing basic care and social support for elderly populations in such resource-constrained settings and family caregivers play a crucial role in that regard.