Caregivers’ interactions with health care services – Mediator of stress or added strain? Experiences and perceptions of informal caregivers of people with dementia – A qualitative study

Background There are an estimated 46.8 million people worldwide living with dementia in 2015, being cared for usually by family members or friends (informal caregivers). The challenges faced by informal caregivers often lead to increased levels of stress, burden and risk of care-recipient institutionalisation. Aim The overarching aim of this study was to explore the experiences and perceptions of informal caregivers of people with dementia when interacting with the health care system, and whether the support received acted as a mediator of caregiver stress. The secondary aim was to investigate healthcare professionals’ views and current practice regarding people with dementia and their interactions with informal caregivers. Method We employed a qualitative research design, using focus groups and one face-to-face interview with a purposive sample of informal caregivers and healthcare professionals in Lincolnshire, UK. Data were collected between March and July 2015. We used the stress-process model of stress in caregivers as a theoretical framework. Results We interviewed 18 caregivers and 17 healthcare professionals. Five themes, mapped to the stress-process in caregivers’ model, captured the main challenges faced by caregivers and the type of support they wanted from health care services. Primary stressors included the challenge of diagnosing dementia; caregivers’ needs and expectations of an in-depth knowledge and understanding of dementia from healthcare professionals; and need for carer education. Secondary role strain included lack of support and mismatch of communication and expectations. Caregiver involvement in monitoring care and disease was a potential mediator tool. Conclusions Fragmentation of dementia care services, lack of training for healthcare professionals and the dearth of information for caregivers means health care services are only partially fulfilling a support role. In turn, lack of support may be intensifying caregiver stress leading to worsening in their health and well-being; thus, potentially increasing the risk of institutionalisation of their care-recipient.

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A national survey of caregiver’s own experiences and perceptions of U.S. health care system when addressing their health and caring for an older adult

BMC Health Services Research ◽

10.1186/s12913-021-06086-z ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 21 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Jill C. Slaboda ◽

Sandahl H. Nelson ◽

Zia Agha ◽

Gregory J. Norman

Keyword(s):

Older Adults ◽

Health Care ◽

Family Caregivers ◽

National Survey ◽

Health Care Services ◽

Well Being ◽

Care Recipient ◽

Personal Health ◽

Care Services ◽

Health And Well Being

Abstract Background Caregiving is a demanding role that can negatively impact a person’s health and well-being. As such, adequate access to health care is important for maintaining the family caregiver’s own personal health. The aims of this study were to identify if family caregivers of older adults had more difficulty accessing health care services than non-caregivers and to identify if family caregivers felt access to additional services would be beneficial for maintaining their own personal health care. Methods National survey of 3026 US adults aged 30 to 89 years old. Participants were grouped based on self-reported caregiving experience. Survey asked about access to care, importance of health care services and whether caregivers had support needed. Descriptive statistics were used to compare caregiver and non-caregiver’s responses. Multivariate logistic regression model assessed correlates of caregivers not having the support they needed. Results Caregivers were older, female, lower educational attainment, lower income, had more multiple chronic health conditions and health condition or disability that impacts their daily life. Caregivers reported difficulty accessing mental health services, dental services, medications, and supportive services at home. Caregivers felt it was important to have care coordinator, long-term relationship with primary care provider and access to house calls, telemedicine, and medications delivered to the home. Age, ethnicity, chronic conditions and confidence in finances were factors influencing whether caregiver had support needed to provide assistance to older care recipient. Conclusion Caregivers provide needed support and care to older adults while also needing support for themselves. Health care services delivered in the home were highly desirable to caregivers and could help them maintain their health and well-being.

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Caring for One’s Wife With Dementia—at Home: Older Husbands’ Experiences With Managing Challenges of Everyday Life

SAGE Open ◽

10.1177/2158244019834453 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 9 (1) ◽

pp. 215824401983445

Author(s):

Linda Rykkje ◽

Oscar Tranvåg

Keyword(s):

Health Care ◽

Health Care Services ◽

Qualitative Interviews ◽

Care Services ◽

People With Dementia ◽

Memory Clinics ◽

Male Caregivers ◽

Caregiving Roles ◽

Caregiver Role ◽

At Home

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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Hypnotherapy as an Adjunct to Medical Treatment: Highlighting Effectiveness and Identifying Barriers to Further Integrative Treatment

Journal of Health Management ◽

10.1177/09720634211011557 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 097206342110115

Author(s):

Feryad A. Hussain

Keyword(s):

Health Care ◽

Medical Treatment ◽

Health Care Services ◽

Well Being ◽

Medical Treatments ◽

Care Services ◽

Secondary Health Care ◽

History Of ◽

Clinical Hypnosis ◽

The Mind

Integrative models of health care have garnered increasing attention over the years and are currently being employed within acute and secondary health care services to support medical treatments in a range of specialities. Clinical hypnosis has a history of working in partnership with medical treatments quite apart from its psychiatric associations. It aims to mobilise the mind–body connection in order to identify and overcome obstacles to managing symptoms of ill health, resulting in overall improved emotional and physical well-being. This article aims to encourage the use of hypnotherapy in physical health care by highlighting the effectiveness of hypnosis as an adjunct to medical treatment and identifying barriers preventing further integrative treatments.

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Health-care Workforce Training to Effectively Support Family Caregivers of Seniors in Care

Canadian Geriatrics Journal ◽

10.5770/cgj.23.384 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 23 (2) ◽

pp. 160-171

Author(s):

Rachel Fisher ◽

Jasneet Parmar ◽

Wendy Duggleby ◽

Peter George J. Tian ◽

Wonita Janzen ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Health Care ◽

Family Caregivers ◽

Health Care Professionals ◽

Health Care Services ◽

Well Being ◽

Workforce Training ◽

Community Dwelling ◽

Canadian Health Care System ◽

Care Services ◽

Qualitative Thematic Analysis

Introduction Family caregivers (FCGs) play an integral, yet often invisible, role in the Canadian health-care system. As the population ages, their presence will become even more essential as they help balance demands on the system and enable community dwelling seniors to remain so for as long as possible. To preserve their own well-being and capacity to provide ongoing care, FCGs require support to the meet the challenges of their daily caregiving responsibilities. Supporting FCGs results in better care provision to community-dwelling seniors receiving health-care services, as well as enhancing the quality of life for FCGs. Although FCGs rely upon health-care professionals (HCPs) to provide them with support and services, there is a paucity of research pertaining to the type of health workforce training (HWFT) that HCPs should receive to address FCG needs. Programs that train HCPs to engage with, empower, and support FCGs are required. Objective To describe and discuss key findings of a caregiver symposium focused on determining components of HWFT that might better enable HCPs to support FCGs. Methods A one-day symposium was held on February 22, 2018 in Edmonton, Alberta, to gather the perspectives of FCGs, HCPs, and stakeholders. Attendees participated in a series of working groups to discuss barriers, facilitators, and recommendations related to HWFT. Proceedings and working group discussions were transcribed, and a qualitative thematic analysis was conducted to identify key themes. Results Participants identified the following topic areas as being essential to training HCPs in the provision of support for FCGs: understanding the FCG role, communicating with FCGs, partnering with FCGs, fostering FCG resilience, navigating healthcare systems and accessing resources, and enhancing the culture and context of care. Conclusions FCGs require more support than is currently being provided by HCPs. Training programs need to specifically address topics identified by participants. These findings will be used to develop HWFT for HCPs.

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Rural Michigan Farmers’ Health Concerns and Experiences: A Focus Group Study

Journal of Primary Care & Community Health ◽

10.1177/21501327211053519 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 12 ◽

pp. 215013272110535

Author(s):

Nathan Wright ◽

Marylee Scherdt ◽

Michelle L. Aebersold ◽

Marjorie C. McCullagh ◽

Barbara R. Medvec ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Health Care ◽

Focus Groups ◽

Health Care System ◽

Health Care Services ◽

Well Being ◽

The United States ◽

Full Time ◽

Rural Residents ◽

Care Services ◽

Care System

Objectives: Rural residents comprise approximately 15% of the United States population. They face challenges in accessing and using a health care system that is not structured to meet their unique needs. It is important to understand rural residents’ perceptions of health and experiences interacting with the health care system to identify gaps in care. Methods: Our team conducted focus groups with members of the Michigan Farm Bureau during their 2019 Annual Meeting. Topics explored included resources to manage health, barriers to virtual health care services, and desired changes to localized healthcare delivery. Surveys were used to capture demographic and internet access information. Conclusion: Analysis included data from 2 focus groups (n = 14). Participants represented a wide age range and a variety of Michigan counties. The majority were full-time farm owners with most—93% (n = 13)—reporting they had access to the internet in their homes and 86% (n = 12) reporting that their cellphones had internet capabilities. Participants identified challenges and opportunities in 4 categories: formal health care; health and well-being supports; health insurance experiences; and virtual health care. Conclusion: The findings from this study provide a useful framework for developing interventions to address the specific needs of rural farming residents. Despite the expressed challenges in access and use of health care services and resources, participants remained hopeful that innovative approaches, such as virtual health platforms, can address existing gaps in care. The study findings should inform the design and evaluation of interventions to address rural health disparities.

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A Survey on Health Care Services Using Wireless Sensor Networks

Healthcare Administration ◽

10.4018/978-1-4666-6339-8.ch008 ◽

2015 ◽

pp. 132-151

Author(s):

Sunilkumar S. Manvi ◽

Manjula R. B.

Keyword(s):

Health Care ◽

Heart Disease ◽

Health Care Services ◽

Health Centre ◽

Ambient Assisted Living ◽

Well Being ◽

Wireless Sensor ◽

Future Research ◽

Care Services ◽

The Individual

Although the present technology has aided in development of high-technology-based disease detection machines, potential medicines and devices, the well-being of the individual remains a challenge. Human beings are struggling to control diseases such as Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, asthma, hypertension, insomnia, heart disease, and diabetes due to non-availability of patient's real-time data for comprehensive study and analysis. Smart health centre environments represent the evolutionary developmental step towards intelligent health care. The Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) with pervasive and ubiquitous computing may be a solution for this predicament. WSNs are a key technology for ambient assisted living. The concept of WSN is used to measure the various health parameters like blood pressure, blood clot, allergy, ECG, cholesterol, RBCs, etc. In this chapter, the authors highlight the importance of WSNs with respect to health care services and discuss some of its challenging applications for diseases like Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, asthma, and heart disease. They delineate the challenges that researchers face in this area that may lead to future research.

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Interstate Level Comparison of People’s Health Status and the State of Public Health Care Services in India

Journal of Health Management ◽

10.1177/0972063414548558 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 16 (4) ◽

pp. 489-507 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Rajkishor Meher ◽

Rajendra Prasad Patro

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

Health Care ◽

Health Status ◽

Tamil Nadu ◽

Health Care Services ◽

Health Indicators ◽

Well Being ◽

Sub Saharan Africa ◽

Public Health Care ◽

Care Services

Health is an essential component of economic development and there is a strong correlation between health of human population and societal well-being. We cannot just think of the development of the human capital without the development of health and education of the people. However, it is found that although India has made large gains on the health front of its population, there exist wide variations between and within states. While states such as Kerala, Punjab and Tamil Nadu have a very developed health sector and the health indicators of these states are comparable to those of developed middle-income countries, states such as Bihar, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh, Odisha, etc., are almost at the level of Sub-Saharan Africa. By using a few of the key health indicators the present article makes a critical analysis of the health status of people in the 17 major states of India, the ongoing health development programmes and the present state of public health care services in different parts of the country. The article further delves into an arena of specific policy intervention measures that are required to be undertaken in order to increase the health status of people.

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IoT Based Hygiene Monitor for Senior Citizens and Mentally Challenged

International Journal of Scientific Research in Science and Technology ◽

10.32628/cseit217458 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 223-229

Author(s):

Mounica B ◽

Yashaswini S ◽

Charitha V ◽

Varsha Gowda S J ◽

Judy Kennedy

Keyword(s):

Health Care ◽

Life Expectancy ◽

Health Care Services ◽

Detection System ◽

Medical Science ◽

Well Being ◽

Personal Hygiene ◽

Care Services ◽

Elderly Health ◽

Moisture Detection

Advancements in medical science and technology, medicine and public health coupled with increased consciousness about nutrition and environmental and personal hygiene have paved the way for the dramatic increase in life expectancy globally in the past several decades. However, increased life expectancy has given rise to an increasing aging population, thus jeopardizing the socio-economic structure of many countries in terms of costs associated with elderly health-care and well- being. In order to deal with the growing need for elderly health-care services, it's essential to develop affordable, unobtrusive and easy-to-use health-care solutions. In this paper, we focused on smart diaper-moisture detection system using IOT. It is a paper based expendable dampness initiated Wi-Fi specialized gadget that could be fused into the conventional cellulose-based diaper. The Wi-Fi enabled sensor unit is done for minimal expense producing, low radiation uses Wi-Fi to send notification to authorized person. There are various approaches to distinguish and quantify dampness where a few models already exist, despite the fact that most strategies require dynamic hardware. When the diaper gets genuinely wet, the dampness sensor turns into source that takes care of an oscillator circuit. The power of the transmitted Wi-Fi connection is far below the levels where it could cause any harm to human.

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Determination of needs of black aged persons in Port Elizabeth: Direction for future interventions

Curationis ◽

10.4102/curationis.v18i4.1369 ◽

1995 ◽

Vol 18 (4) ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

M. M. S. Ntshona

Keyword(s):

Health Care ◽

Elderly People ◽

Health Care Services ◽

Well Being ◽

The Elderly ◽

Home Care Services ◽

Care Needs ◽

Care Services ◽

Port Elizabeth ◽

The Government

Social, economic and health care needs of elderly black persons in Port Elizabeth and areas in its immediate vicinity are investigated. Conclusions are drawn from a sample study of 301 elderly people. The investigation reveals that the majority of pensioners are -women, their educational standard is below standard 10, and they have little vocational or specialized training. A high proportion (86%) of them are breadwinners and therefore they are unwilling to reside in institutions. Recreational facilities are inadequate. Pension payout points are overcrowded and disorganized. Also health care services are inaccessible to most elderly people. In view of these findings, a community-based approach to care for the elderly is recommended. The approach should promote social interaction among elderly through establishment of luncheon clubs and service centres and well-being of all elderly through geriatric clinics as well as home care services for the infirm. This entails an intersectorial collaboration, with the elderly being fully involved and participating. Considering the exponential growth of the elderly population in South Africa, it is imperative that the government and other organizations should take cognizance of studies of this nature when making future decisions as regards the care of this group.

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