Articles: caregivers.
-
Journal of neurosurgery · Sep 1999
Outcome after complex neurosurgery: the caregiver's burden is forgotten.
The goals of this study were twofold: 1) to determine outcome, including quality of life, in patients who have undergone surgery for petroclival meningioma in which a standard skull base approach was used; and 2) to assess the impact of the patients' surgical treatment on their caregivers. ⋯ After transpetrosal excision of a petroclival meningioma, the quality of life for the patient is worse than that indicated in surgeons' reported results. The impact on the patient's caregiver is profound-a burden perhaps not fully appreciated by the surgeon.
-
Research regarding informal caregiving showed considerable individual variation in responses to cancer caregiving. The current longitudinal study examined determinants of caregiver outcomes in terms of caregiver experiences at 3 months and caregiver's mental health at 6 months after hospital discharge. It included both negative and positive dimensions of caregiving outcomes. ⋯ It is important that professionals involved in the ongoing care of cancer patients and their families be aware of the increasing demands made on caregivers and the specific problems and uplifts they perceive in caregiving. Professional caregivers are urged to involve informal caregivers with care explicitly and continuously. However, specific attention to those caregivers who live only with the patient, those with a low income, those with a distressed relationship, and those with a high level of patient dependency and care involvement is warranted.
-
Health services research · Aug 1999
Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study Clinical TrialEffects of the Medicare Alzheimer's Disease Demonstration on caregiver burden and depression.
Does improved access to community-based care reduce perceived burden and reported levels of depression among primary caregivers of people with dementia? ⋯ Both the fact that these programmatic differences did not translate into substantial treatment group reductions in caregiver burden or depression, and the consistency of these findings with those of prior case management evaluations suggest the need to reformulate this programmatic intervention into areas not previously tested: 24-hour care, crisis intervention, coordination with primary care, or chronic disease management.
-
Int J Geriatr Psychiatry · Aug 1999
Comparative StudyEUROCARE: a cross-national study of co-resident spouse carers for people with Alzheimer's disease: I--Factors associated with carer burden.
The challenges presented by the increasing public health and social impact of caring for people with dementia have become clear in recent years. Previous research has identified that, while there are positive as well as negative elements to the caring role, carers are at high risk of mental health problems and that the comprehensive burden of caring has social, economic and health based elements. Co-resident carers, especially spouses, are of primary importance in maintaining people with dementia in their own homes in the community rather than in institutional settings which may be both more costly and have greater environmental poverty. There have, however, been few studies which have sought to investigate factors associated with carer burden and differences and similarities between countries. In this study we aimed to produce a cross-national profile of co-resident spouse carers across the European Community, with particular attention to: living arrangements; formal and informal support; service satisfaction; perceived burden; and psychological well-being. ⋯ This study confirms the high level of burden and mental distress in spouse carers for people with Alzheimer's disease in the European Community. It suggests that there are elements of burden which may vary by country but also elements which have a common effect in all. These data suggest avenues for the primary and secondary prevention of burden by addressing clinical issues (e.g. behavioural disturbance); public attitudes and education (e.g. negative social reactions); economic support for carers (e.g. financial dissatisfaction); and higher risk groups (e.g. younger spouse carers).
-
Comparative Study
Is there a difference between family caregiving of institutionalized elders with or without dementia?
Based on the stress and coping model of Lazarus and Folkman, the aim of this comparative study was to determine whether the caregiving experience of the caregivers of an institutionalized demented relative is different from the one of the caregivers whose relative does not suffer from dementia. Five dimensions of the caregiving experience were considered: stressors, cognitive appraisal of the stressors, social support, coping strategies and well-being. The sample consisted of primary caregivers of a demented and a nondemented relative. ⋯ According to MANCOVA analysis, formal and informal social support seems to play a protective role in the psychological distress of the caregivers of a demented relative. There was no difference between the two groups with regard to their coping strategies. Overall, the caregivers of a demented relative seemed to experience some dimensions of caregiving in a different way compared with their counterparts, and the nature of dementia in itself helps to explain this difference.