Articles: caregivers.
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Family caregivers are often the first line of support for people requiring care; although they may personally stand to benefit, these activities substantially increase the risk of physical and emotional stress. General practitioners (GPs) may provide important support and stabilisation, but need to adjust to the needs and expectations of this group in order to do so. The aim of the study was to compare the needs of family caregivers from GPs to the support they actually experience. Additional aims included determining the main factors affecting satisfaction amongst family caregivers with support from GPs. The results were used to develop possible approaches towards optimisation within the purview of general medical practice. ⋯ We recommend that GPs undergo further training to reinforce awareness that the care triad of needs, requirements and stresses amongst family caregivers also plays a vital role in care outcomes. With this in mind, general practice staff should adopt a pre-emptive strategy towards approaching family members about potential issues and informing them about existing assistance and support services.
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The Caregiver Contribution to Heart Failure Self-Care (CACHS) is a Canadian instrument that assesses caregivers' (CGs) contributions to heart failure (HF) patients' self-care, but a Brazilian version was lacking. ⋯ CACHS-Br is equivalent to the original version and provided satisfactory evidence of content validity. Further psychometric testing of this version should allow for the measurement of the CG contributions to HF self-care in Brazil.
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Advance care planning (ACP) is critical for older adults with heart failure; however, patient-level and clinician-level barriers exist. Although a group visit (GV) approach to engage patients in ACP has proven effective among general geriatric populations, little is known about clinician perceptions/likelihood of referral. ⋯ This is the first study to gain clinician insights into ACP GVs specific to patients and caregivers affected by heart failure. Results shed light on an important topic and suggest key considerations for conducting GVs for ACP.
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Palliative medicine · Mar 2021
The role, impact, and support of informal caregivers in the delivery of palliative care for patients with advanced cancer: A multi-country qualitative study.
Cancer is increasing in its prevalence in sub-Saharan Africa. Informal caregivers are key to supporting engagement and interaction with palliative care services, but limited literature on their role impedes development of supportive interventions. ⋯ The role of informal caregivers is multi-faceted, with participants reporting taking care of the majority of medical, physical, financial, and emotional needs of the care recipient, often in the face of sacrifices relating to employment, finances, and their own health and social life. Efforts to develop comprehensive cancer control plans in sub-Saharan Africa must take account of the increasing evidence of informal caregiver needs.