Supporting Male Caregivers During EI Home Visits

More than 80,000 Norwegians live with dementia. Most caregivers for people with dementia are spouses, and women outnumber men. Due to an aging population, and women’s higher risk of dementia as well as men’s increased life expectancy, the number of male caregivers will rise. There are some differences in the caregiving roles of men and women. Research suggest that males report lower burden and depression than female caregivers, but some men struggle to adjust to the caregiver role, and men are less likely to access health care services. The aim of this study is to explore the experiences of husbands engaged in caregiving for their home-dwelling spouse with dementia. This knowledge will add to the growing body of research about men in the context of dementia care and may raise gender awareness. The method is qualitative interviews with hermeneutical interpretation. The participants are five husbands recruited from two Hospital Memory Clinics in Norway. The results portray how the husbands managed their everyday challenges, and how they adapted to changes, experiences of loss and bereavement, and how they redefined personal freedom and expanded their responsibilities. Acknowledging the rewards of caregiving, the husbands found their life meaningful and they were thriving in their caregiving role. Health care personnel should recognize and respect the challenging life situation caregiving husbands may experience, calling for personnel to learn from, care for, and collaborate with them, enabling the couple to live a meaningful life together at home as long as possible.

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Social inequality in parent–infant relations: Epidemiological study of community nurse records

Scandinavian Journal of Public Health ◽

10.1177/1403494820983137 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 140349482098313

Author(s):

Bjørn E. Holstein ◽

Sofie Weber Pant ◽

Janni Ammitzbøll ◽

Trine Pagh Pedersen

Keyword(s):

Community Sample ◽

Occupational Status ◽

Home Visits ◽

Cross Sectional Study ◽

Outcome Variable ◽

Immigrant Parents ◽

First Year ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Parents And Children ◽

First Year Of Life

Background: Some studies suggest that favourable socioeconomic circumstances are associated with better parent–child relations but the documentation of such an association is limited and inconsistent. Few studies focused on infancy, few studies relied on objective measurement of parent–infant relations, and few studies included more than one measurement of parent–infant relations in the first year of life. Aims: To report the prevalence of objectively measured problems in parent–infant relations during the first year of life and to examine the association between socioeconomic circumstances and parent–infant relations in an unselected community sample of infants. Methods: Cross-sectional study of a community sample of children from birth to 10 months in 15 municipalities in Denmark, n = 11,765. The exposure variables were population register data about socioeconomic circumstances: (a) parents’ education, (b) family composition, (c) parents’ origin, and (d) parents’ occupational status. The outcome variable was the health visitor’s concerns about the parent–infant relation assessed at four home visits from birth to 10 months after delivery. Results: The proportion of children with concerns about the parent–infant relation was 10.5%, 7.8% at one home visit and 2.8% at two or more home visits. Logistic regression analyses showed that all four indicators of socioeconomic circumstances were associated with concerns about the parent–infant relation in the first year of life. Conclusions: The risk of problematic parent–infant relations were significantly elevated among, children of immigrant parents, and children of parents with shorter education and not in education or work.

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Cancer causes emergency home visits

Journal of General and Family Medicine ◽

10.1002/jgf2.472 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Koki Kato ◽

Masaya Tomita ◽

Moe Kato ◽

Takaaki Goto ◽

Kyukei Nishizono

Keyword(s):

Home Visits

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Schedules for home visits in the early postpartum period

Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews ◽

10.1002/14651858.cd009326.pub4 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 2021 (7) ◽

Author(s):

Naohiro Yonemoto ◽

Shuko Nagai ◽

Rintaro Mori

Keyword(s):

Postpartum Period ◽

Home Visits ◽

Early Postpartum Period ◽

Early Postpartum

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Use of antidepressants among Finnish family caregivers: a nationwide register-based study

Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology ◽

10.1007/s00127-021-02049-1 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Tuija M. Mikkola ◽

Hannu Kautiainen ◽

Minna Mänty ◽

Mikaela B. von Bonsdorff ◽

Hannu Koponen ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Relative Risk ◽

Family Caregivers ◽

High Intensity ◽

Matched Control ◽

Age Groups ◽

Control Population ◽

Defined Daily Doses ◽

Male Caregivers ◽

And Gender

Abstract Purpose The purpose of this study was to compare the use of antidepressants over 6 years between family caregivers providing high-intensity care and a matched control population using register-based data. Methods The study includes all individuals, who received family caregiver’s allowance in Finland in 2012 (n = 29,846 females, mean age 66 years; n = 12,410 males, mean age 71 years) and a control population matched for age, sex, and municipality of residence (n = 59,141 females; n = 24,477 males). Information on purchases of antidepressants, including the number of defined daily doses (DDD) purchased, between 2012 and 2017 was obtained from the national drugs reimbursement register. Results During the follow-up, 28.5% of female caregivers and 23.5% of the female controls used antidepressants, while the numbers for males were 21.1% and 16.4%, respectively. Adjusted for socioeconomic status, female caregivers used 43.7 (95% confidence interval 42.4–45.0) and their controls used 36.2 (35.3–37.2) DDDs of antidepressants per person-year. Male caregivers used 29.6 (27.6–31.6) and their controls used 21.6 (20.2–23.0) DDDs of antidepressants per person-year. Among female caregivers, the relative risk for use of antidepressants was similar (about 1.3) from 20 to 70 years, after which the relative risk declined. In male caregivers, the relative risk was highest (about 1.4–1.5) between 45 and 65 years. Conclusions Family caregivers providing high-intensity care use more antidepressants and hence, are likely to have poorer mental health than the age-matched general population in virtually all age groups. However, the magnitude of the higher use varies as a function of age and gender.

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Challenges in adapting field placement during a pandemic: A Jamaican perspective

International Social Work ◽

10.1177/0020872820976738 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 002087282097673

Author(s):

Cerita S Buchanan ◽

Sarah J Bailey-Belafonte

Keyword(s):

Social Work ◽

Field Experience ◽

Home Visits ◽

Field Placement ◽

Field Placements ◽

Social Work Training ◽

Work Training ◽

Short Essay ◽

Information And Technology

The field experience component of social work training had to be quickly adjusted due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and various factors guided this process. This short essay briefly explores how information and technology, home visits, insurance and liability, and licensing and regulation have impacted the adjustment of social work field placements in Jamaica during the COVID-19 pandemic. It also highlights the different methods of field placements that have been used in light of the challenges.

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