Encouraging Eating: Advice for At-Home Dementia Caregivers

2006 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
2018 ◽  
Vol 30 (11) ◽  
pp. 1697-1706 ◽  
Author(s):  
Meredith Gresham ◽  
Megan Heffernan ◽  
Henry Brodaty

ABSTRACTBackground:Caring for persons with dementia is stressful for family caregivers. Caregiver training programs and respite care can reduce this stress and help maintain persons with dementia living longer in the community. We evaluated a program that combines caregiver training with a residential respite stay.Methods:In total, 90 dyads of persons with dementia and their caregivers, in groups of 3–6 dyads, volunteered to participate in a five-day residential training program and were followed-up 6 and 12 months later. The primary outcome was caregiver depression; secondary outcomes were measures of caregiver burden, unmet needs, person with dementia behavioral symptoms, and the quality of life and function.Results:Caregiver depression and burden were unchanged, despite decreasing function in persons with dementia. Caregivers’ unmet needs and behavioral symptoms in persons with dementia decreased significantly. Compared to a group of persons with dementia admitted for routine residential respite care, there was a marked reduction in permanent placement over 12 months.Conclusions:The Going to Stay at Home Program is a feasible and practicable model with benefits for caregivers and persons with dementia. It may lead to delay in institutionalization and may be applicable to other chronic conditions.


2006 ◽  
Vol 14 (7S_Part_31) ◽  
pp. P1630-P1631
Author(s):  
Eric Jutkowitz ◽  
Daniel Scerpella ◽  
Laura T. Pizzi ◽  
Katherine A. Marx ◽  
Quincy M. Samus ◽  
...  

2011 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 90-98 ◽  
Author(s):  
Irina Fonareva ◽  
Alexandra M. Amen ◽  
Roger M. Ellingson ◽  
Barry S. Oken

ABSTRACTBackground: Clinicians and researchers working with dementia caregivers typically assess caregiver stress in a clinic or research center, but caregivers’ stress is rooted at home where they provide care. This study aimed to compare ratings of stress-related measures obtained in research settings and in the home using ecological momentary assessment (EMA).Methods: EMA of 18 caregivers (mean age 66.4 years ±7.8; 89% females) and 23 non-caregivers (mean age 66.4 years ±7.9; 87% females) was implemented using a personal digital assistant. Subjects rated their perceived stress, fatigue, coping with current situation, mindfulness, and situational demand once in the research center and again at 3–4 semi-random points during a day at home. The data from several assessments conducted at home were averaged for statistical analyses and compared with the data collected in the research center.Results: The testing environment had a differential effect on caregivers and non-caregivers for the ratings of perceived stress (p < 0.01) and situational demand (p = 0.01). When tested in the research center, ratings for all measures were similar between groups, but when tested at home, caregivers rated their perceived stress as higher than non-caregivers (p = 0.02). Overall, caregivers reported higher perceived stress at home than in the research center (p = 0.02), and non-caregivers reported greater situational demand in the research center than at home (p < 0.01).Conclusions: The assessment method and environment affect stress-related outcomes. Evaluating participants in their natural environment provides a more sensitive measure of stress-related outcomes. EMA provides a convenient way to gather data when evaluating dementia caregivers.


Author(s):  
Jyoti Savla ◽  
Karen A Roberto ◽  
Rosemary Blieszner ◽  
Brandy Renee McCann ◽  
Emily Hoyt ◽  
...  

Abstract Objective The objective of this study was to assess family caregivers’ primary appraisal of stressors related to COVID-19 stay-at-home orders, secondary appraisal of resources and support availability, and use of coping strategies as predictors of perceived role overload during the stay-at-home phase of the pandemic. Method Telephone interviews with 53 family caregivers of persons with dementia from rural Virginia 2 weeks after enactment of the governor’s stay-at-home order using structured and open-ended questions were conducted. Results Caregivers who were more concerned about the COVID-19 pandemic were at greater odds of experiencing high role overload than those who recognized positive aspects of the pandemic, as were those who received insufficient support from family and friends. Discussion Use of the transactional model of stress responses yielded important insights about families coping with dementia. Caregivers’ perceptions of the pandemic’s impact varied, with differential effects on their well-being.


2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S549-S550
Author(s):  
Quincy M Samus ◽  
Nancy Hodgson ◽  
Joseph E Gaugler

Abstract Family caregivers, often “de facto” members of the care team for persons with dementia, play a central role in ensuring safety, support, quality of life, and continuity of care. Most often, they provide this care for loved ones at home and over a long period of time, as the illness progresses and care need intensifies. This session will provide a unique understanding of potential ways to optimize support for family caregivers in provision of day-to-day care in the home by examining often-overlooked factors influential in the health and wellbeing for both caregiver and persons with dementia. Presentations will draw from three large community-based trials testing interventions to support dementia caregivers. Drs. Samus and Sloan will present on common unmet needs identified by family caregivers and explore how needs differ by disease stage and race. Dr. Fortinsky will present baseline caregiver care-related challenges in a diverse cohort of caregivers and the effects of a caregiver intervention designed to mitigate these challenges. Dr. Hodgson will present the common symptoms clusters among home-dwelling persons with dementia patients and how these are associated with caregiver distress. Dr. Jutkowitz will discuss factors influencing dementia caregiver’s willingness to pay for help at home. Findings from this session will help elucidate care needs that matter most to family caregivers in diverse community-living cohorts and how we might optimize and tailor supportive home-based interventions to target these needs and challenges.


2006 ◽  
Vol 14 (7S_Part_31) ◽  
pp. P1630-P1630 ◽  
Author(s):  
Quincy M. Samus ◽  
Betty E. Black ◽  
Melissa Reuland ◽  
Nancy A. Hodgson ◽  
Laura N. Gitlin ◽  
...  

2011 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 50-59 ◽  
Author(s):  
Irina Fonareva ◽  
Alexandra M. Amen ◽  
Daniel P. Zajdel ◽  
Roger M. Ellingson ◽  
Barry S. Oken

1981 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 4-12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Barbara Culatta ◽  
Donna Horn

This study attempted to maximize environmental language learning for four hearing-impaired children. The children's mothers were systematically trained to present specific language symbols to their children at home. An increase in meaningful use of these words was observed during therapy sessions. In addition, as the mothers began to generalize the language exposure strategies, an increase was observed in the children's use of words not specifically identified by the clinician as targets.


2020 ◽  
Vol 51 (2) ◽  
pp. 371-389 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xigrid Soto ◽  
Yagmur Seven ◽  
Meaghan McKenna ◽  
Keri Madsen ◽  
Lindsey Peters-Sanders ◽  
...  

Purpose This article describes the iterative development of a home review program designed to augment vocabulary instruction for young children (ages 4 and 5 years) occurring at school through the use of a home review component. Method A pilot study followed by two experiments used adapted alternating treatment designs to compare the learning of academic words taught at school to words taught at school and reviewed at home. At school, children in small groups were taught academic words embedded in prerecorded storybooks for 6 weeks. Children were given materials such as stickers with review prompts (e.g., “Tell me what brave means”) to take home for half the words. Across iterations of the home intervention, the home review component was enhanced by promoting parent engagement and buy-in through in-person training, video modeling, and daily text message reminders. Visual analyses of single-subject graphs, multilevel modeling, and social validity measures were used to evaluate the additive effects and feasibility of the home review component. Results Social validity results informed each iteration of the home program. The effects of the home program across sites were mixed, with only one site showing consistently strong effects. Superior learning was evident in the school + home review condition for families that reviewed words frequently at home. Although the home review program was effective in improving the vocabulary skills of many children, some families had considerable difficulty practicing vocabulary words. Conclusion These studies highlight the importance of using social validity measures to inform iterative development of home interventions that promote feasible strategies for enhancing the home language environment. Further research is needed to identify strategies that stimulate facilitators and overcome barriers to implementation, especially in high-stress homes, to enrich the home language environments of more families.


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