Supporting and Protecting People with Dementia in the COVID-19 Pandemic

We aimed to explore the awareness and preparedness of dementia caregivers and people with mild cognitive deficits on how to prevent COVID-19 infection and cope with the indirect consequences of the pandemic. A total of 139 patient-caregiver dyads received a telephone survey and 109 completed the survey. The majority of respondents reported having a moderate-to-good knowledge of the typical manifestations of COVID-19. Conversely, only few of them were informed of the atypical presentations and on how to recognize emergency warning signs. Filling the knowledge gaps on COVID-19 in the most vulnerable people may represent a significant resource to tackle the pandemic.

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Mentalizing Imagery Therapy mobile application for family dementia caregivers: feasibility and effects on mood and caregiving

10.31231/osf.io/cgpfs ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Abu Sikder ◽

Francis Yang ◽

Rhiana Schafer ◽

Glenna A. Dowling ◽

Lara Traeger ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Family Caregivers ◽

Mobile Application ◽

Self Regulation ◽

Pilot Trial ◽

Depression Symptom ◽

Structured Interviews ◽

Physical Strain ◽

Dementia Caregivers ◽

Loved One ◽

People With Dementia

Objectives: Due to psychological and physical strain, family caregivers of patients with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias are at high risk for depression and stress related disorders. We investigated the feasibility of a mobile application (App) intervention delivering Mentalizing Imagery Therapy (MIT), which incorporates guided imagery and mindfulness, to facilitate self-regulation and increase perspective on the mental life of self and others. Method: A 4-week pilot trial of an MIT App for family caregivers of people with dementia was conducted to assess feasibility of use, mood and depression symptom benefit, and relationship changes. Semi-structured interviews were conducted at the study’s conclusion to characterize participants’ perceived benefits. Results: 80% of 21 consented participants downloaded the App, utilized it at least once, and were further analyzed. Of these participants, average usage of audio recordings was 14 ± 10 (SD) days out of 28 possible, and 29 ± 28 individual sessions. Acute improvement in mood from before to after completion of exercises was uniformly observed (p < .001), and after four weeks there was a significant increase in positive affect and a reduction in negative affect. Participants with severe levels of depression (n=3) at baseline exhibited an improvement in symptoms at 4 weeks averaging 30% (p < .05). Semi-structured interviews revealed an increase in the ability to remain “centered" despite caregiving challenges, take the perspective of the loved one, and positively reframe the caregiver experience.Conclusion: App delivery of MIT is feasible for family dementia caregivers. Results showed moderate to high usage of the app for a majority of the users, and promising improvements in mood and depression. These data provide justification for larger, controlled trials.

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Impact of Social Isolation on People with Dementia and Their Family Caregivers

Journal of Alzheimer s Disease ◽

10.3233/jad-201580 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 1-11

Author(s):

Lílian Viana dos Santos Azevedo ◽

Ismael Luis Calandri ◽

Andrea Slachevsky ◽

Héctor Gastón Graviotto ◽

Maria Carolina Santos Vieira ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Family Caregivers ◽

Social Isolation ◽

Clinical Symptoms ◽

Memory Function ◽

South American ◽

Severe Dementia ◽

Dementia Caregivers ◽

People With Dementia ◽

Moderate Dementia ◽

Severity Of Dementia

Background: People with dementia and their family caregivers may face a great burden through social isolation due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which can be manifested as various behavioral and clinical symptoms. Objective: To investigate the impacts of social isolation due to the COVID-19 pandemic on individuals with dementia and their family caregivers. Methods: Two semi-structured questionnaires were applied via telephone to family caregivers of people diagnosed with dementia in three cities in Argentina, Brazil, and Chile, in order to assess clinical and behavioral changes in people with dementia and in their caregivers. Results: In general, 321 interviews were conducted. A significant decline in memory function has been reported among 53.0%of people with dementia. In addition, 31.2%of individuals with dementia felt sadder and 37.4%had increased anxiety symptoms. These symptoms of anxiety were greater in individuals with mild to moderate dementia, while symptoms of agitation were greater in individuals with severe dementia. Moreover, compulsive-obsessive behavior, hallucinations, increased forgetfulness, altered appetite, and increased difficulty in activities of daily living were reported more frequently among individuals with moderate to severe dementia. Caregivers reported feeling more tired and overwhelmed during this period and these symptoms were also influenced by the severity of dementia. Conclusion: Social isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic triggered a series of negative behavioral repercussions, both for people with dementia and for their family caregivers in these three South American countries.

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“We Are Doing These Things So That People Will Not Laugh at Us”: Caregivers’ Attitudes About Dementia and Caregiving in Nigeria

Qualitative Health Research ◽

10.1177/10497323211004105 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 104973232110041

Author(s):

Candidus C. Nwakasi ◽

Kate de Medeiros ◽

Foluke S. Bosun-Arije

Keyword(s):

The United States ◽

Structured Interviews ◽

Dementia Caregivers ◽

Term Care ◽

Awareness Campaigns ◽

Knowledge Deficit ◽

People With Dementia ◽

Qualitative Descriptive ◽

The Impact

Some Nigerians, in their effort to make sense of dementia symptoms, use descriptions that may stigmatize people with dementia and their families. This qualitative descriptive study focused on the everyday understanding of dementia and the impact of stigma on the caregiving experiences of informal female Nigerian dementia caregivers. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with a purposive sample of 12 adult informal female caregivers in Nigeria and analyzed for themes. Afterward, results were presented to focus groups of 21 adult Nigerians residing in the United States for more contextual insight on the findings. The three major themes were misconceptions about dementia symptoms, caregiving protects against stigmatization, and stigma affects caregiving support. Overall, we argue that knowledge deficit, poor awareness, and traditional spiritual beliefs combine to drive dementia-related stigmatization in Nigeria. Strategies such as culturally appropriate dementia awareness campaigns and formal long-term care policies are urgently needed to help strengthen informal dementia caregiving in Nigeria.

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Risks of financial abuse of older people with dementia: findings from a survey of UK voluntary sector dementia community services staff

The Journal of Adult Protection ◽

10.1108/jap-04-2013-0018 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 16 (3) ◽

pp. 180-192 ◽

Cited By ~ 9

Author(s):

Kritika Samsi ◽

Jill Manthorpe ◽

Karishma Chandaria

Keyword(s):

Online Survey ◽

Local Community ◽

Community Support ◽

Voluntary Sector ◽

Community Services ◽

Warning Signs ◽

Money Management ◽

Content Type ◽

Financial Abuse ◽

People With Dementia

Purpose – Financial abuse of people with dementia is of rising concern to family carers, the voluntary sector and professionals. Little is known about preventative and early response practice among community services staff. The purpose of this paper is to investigate voluntary sector staff's views of the risks of managing money when a person has a dementia and explore ways that individuals may be protected from the risks of financial abuse. Design/methodology/approach – An online survey of staff of local Alzheimer's Society groups across England was conducted in 2011 and was completed by 86 respondents. Open-ended responses supplemented survey questions. Statistical analysis and content analysis identified emergent findings. Findings – Most respondents said their people with dementia experienced problems with money management, with almost half the respondents reporting encountering cases of financial abuse over the past year. Most were alert to warning signs and vulnerabilities and offered suggestions relevant to practice and policy about prevention and risk minimization. Research limitations/implications – Adult safeguarding practitioners are likely to encounter money management uncertainties and concerns about exploitation of people with dementia. They may be contacted by community-based support staff from the voluntary sector about individual queries but could ensure that such practitioners are engaged in local training and networking activities to promote their skills and confidence. Practical implications – As with other forms of elder abuse, professionals need to be aware of risks of financial abuse and be able to suggest effective yet acceptable preventive measures and ways to reduce risks of harm and loss. Further publicity about adult safeguarding services may be needed among local community support services. Originality/value – There have been few studies investigating the views of people working with people with dementia in the community about adult safeguarding.

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Research on the health of and interventions for family caregivers of people with dementia: a bibliometric analysis of research output during 1988–2018

10.21203/rs.2.15389/v1 ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Hui Shi ◽

Chen Mao ◽

Jinling Tang ◽

Huiying Liang

Keyword(s):

Bibliometric Analysis ◽

Research Output ◽

Online Communication ◽

Annual Number ◽

Dementia Patient ◽

Dementia Caregivers ◽

People With Dementia ◽

The Usa ◽

Performance Statistics ◽

The Uk

Abstract Background: Dementia is a large and growing health problem, and since the majority of dementia patients live at home, caring responsibilities generally fall to family members. Caregivers are often inadequately supported by formal health services and have poorer psychological and physical health. Our study aimed to compare the contributions of publications from different countries, institutions and authors and present a bibliometric analysis to determine the future hotspots and trends in research on the health of and interventions for family dementia caregivers. Methods: Studies published during 1988-2018 were extracted from the Science Citation Index Expanded of the Web of Science. Each publication was evaluated to obtain the basic information. Bibliometric analysis was used to evaluate the number or cooperation networks of publications, countries, institutions, journals, citations, authors, references, and keywords. The resulting articles were analyzed descriptively, and data were produced for VOSviewer. Results: Five hundred forty-two articles were identified.The annual number of relevant publications has increased steadily since approximately 2006. The USA has the highest number of publications (36.2%), followed by the UK (12.9%). China entered late, but research there has developed rapidly. The most productive institution, journal, and author in this field are University College London, the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, and Orrell M from the UK, respectively. A co-occurrence analysis of keywords reveals a mainstream research focus on burden, depression, quality of life, and corresponding interventions for dementia patient caregivers. The keywords “psychosocial intervention”, “long-term”, “e-learning/online”, “communication”, and “qualitative research” reflect the latest hotspots, appearing in approximately 2017-2018. Conclusion: Our study details the performance statistics of and the main topics and trends in the research on the health of and interventions for dementia caregivers from 1988 to 2018 and provides a comprehensive analysis.

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Dementia: An Overview (Preprint)

10.2196/preprints.36300 ◽

2022 ◽

Author(s):

Anung Ahadi Pradana

Keyword(s):

Support Groups ◽

Health Workers ◽

Communicable Diseases ◽

Dementia Caregivers ◽

Non Communicable Diseases ◽

People With Dementia ◽

Professional Health ◽

The Government ◽

Financial Burdens ◽

Caregiver Burdens

BACKGROUND Dementia is a serious terminal and irreversible disease that often does not receive attention from the public compared to other non-communicable diseases. This disease causes a decline in cognitive function in individuals and makes them have to depend on others for 5-20 years of their life span. OBJECTIVE The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of dementia and other things related to this disease. METHODS The writing method in this article uses a narrative review on several scientific sources and journal articles published in 2011-2021 from several databases such as Google Scholar, CINAHL, ProQuest, PubMed, and EBSCO. RESULTS Dementia is one of the non-communicable diseases that can cause a high burden on individuals, families, communities, and countries as a result of the unproductiveness and total dependence of people with dementia on their surrounding environment due to the decline in body functions that occur. The caregiver burden experienced by caregivers includes physical, psychological, social and financial burdens. Support and assistance from professional health workers for people with dementia as well as caregivers and families can be provided through several efforts such as providing information related to illness, assistance in the care provided, providing counseling to prevent caregiver burdens and other problems, forming support groups for dementia caregivers, and advocacy for people with dementia and their families to get their rights. CONCLUSIONS Change efforts and policy making by the government that are more pro-people with dementia can change the perception that has been in society so far to be more positive and can potentially contribute to people with dementia.

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DEMENTIA CAREGIVER EMBRACE OF HOME VIDEO TELEHEALTH VISITS

Innovation in Aging ◽

10.1093/geroni/igz038.911 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 3 (Supplement_1) ◽

pp. S243-S243

Author(s):

Lauren Moo

Keyword(s):

Older Adults ◽

Family Caregivers ◽

Daily Routine ◽

Dementia Caregivers ◽

Home Video ◽

Inclement Weather ◽

Medical Visits ◽

Dementia Caregiver ◽

People With Dementia ◽

Technical Issues

Abstract Bringing people with dementia to in-person medical visits can be logistically challenging for family caregivers, especially when they themselves are older adults with their own health or mobility challenges, when they live far from the clinic, or when they have to combat inclement weather. Our dementia management clinic has successfully trialed video visits into the home. Video sessions have been welcomed by many dementia caregivers citing reduced travel and less disruption of daily routine as the primary benefits of participating. Caregivers report equivalent visit satisfaction compared to in-person visits. While technical issues have been common, most were just brief audio or video lags. Expansion of HIPAA compliant telemedicine software options across devices is increasing the population of caregivers who are able to participate in home video visits. (127 words)

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Clinical Profiles of Dengue Infection during an Outbreak in Northern India

Journal of Tropical Medicine ◽

10.1155/2016/5917934 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 2016 ◽

pp. 1-7 ◽

Cited By ~ 9

Author(s):

Anish Laul ◽

Poonam Laul ◽

Vamsi Merugumala ◽

Ravi Pathak ◽

Urvashi Miglani ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Dengue Fever ◽

Dengue Infection ◽

Dengue Shock Syndrome ◽

Acalculous Cholecystitis ◽

Signs And Symptoms ◽

Hemorrhagic Fever ◽

Warning Signs ◽

Mosquito Vector ◽

Diagnostic Dilemma ◽

Atypical Presentations

Introduction.Dengue fever is an arboviral disease, which is transmitted by mosquito vector and presents as varied clinical spectrum of dengue fever (DF), dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF), dengue shock syndrome (DSS), and expanded dengue syndrome (EDS) with atypical presentations, thus posing a diagnostic dilemma. Unless we are aware of these presentations, diagnosis as well as early initiation of treatment becomes difficult. We studied the various clinical presentations of dengue infection during an outbreak of disease in 2015.Materials and Methods. A total of 115 confirmed cases of dengue infection from Department of Medicine of Deen Dayal Upadhyay Hospital, New Delhi, were enrolled in this observational study.Results.The common signs and symptoms of dengue infection were fever, headache, body ache, backache, retro-orbital pain, bleeding manifestations, and rash in 100%, 87%, 86%, 58%, 41%, 21%, and 21%, respectively. Nonspecific or warning signs and symptoms included vomiting, weakness, abdominal pain, breathlessness, vertigo, sweating, and syncope. Other possible signs and symptoms of coinfections, comorbidities, or complications included diarrhea, sore throat, and neurological manifestations. There were seven patients with coinfections and four with comorbidities. The final diagnosis of these patients was DF (73%), DHF (16.5%), DSS (1.7%), and EDS (4.3%). Among EDS patients, the atypical presentations included encephalopathy, lateral rectus nerve palsy, acalculous cholecystitis, and myocarditis. Four patients required ICU care and there was no death in this study.Conclusion. Knowledge of atypical presentations is a must for early diagnosis and timely intervention to prevent life-threatening complications.

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Abuse of people with dementia

Reviews in Clinical Gerontology ◽

10.1017/s095925980999013x ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 19 (1) ◽

pp. 35-43 ◽

Cited By ~ 9

Author(s):

Amber Selwood ◽

Claudia Cooper

Keyword(s):

Older Adults ◽

General Population ◽

Older People ◽

Memory Impairment ◽

Social Care ◽

Care Recipient ◽

People With Dementia ◽

Health And Social Care ◽

Vulnerable People ◽

With Memory

SummaryPeople with dementia are particularly vulnerable to abuse. It is inherently difficult to study as it is a hidden offence, perpetrated against vulnerable people with memory impairment, by those on whom they depend. In the general population, 6% of older people have experienced abuse in the last month and this rises to approximately 25% in vulnerable populations such as people with dementia. We know that various factors in the carer and the care recipient can predispose to a higher rate of abuse and this knowledge can be harnessed to try and improve prevention. There are also valid and reliable scales available to help detect abuse in vulnerable older adults. All health and social care professionals have a responsibility to act on any suspicion or evidence of significant abuse or neglect in order to ensure that appropriate management is taken.

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Dementia and financial incapacity: a caregiver study

Working with Older People ◽

10.1108/wwop-07-2015-0015 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 20 (2) ◽

pp. 66-75 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Olivia DaDalt ◽

Arielle Burstein ◽

Birgit Kramer ◽

Lisa A. D'Ambrosio ◽

Joseph F. Coughlin

Keyword(s):

Elder Care ◽

Financial Advisors ◽

Dementia Caregivers ◽

Content Type ◽

Manage Care ◽

People With Dementia ◽

Mixed Feelings ◽

Financial Arrangements ◽

Industry Professionals ◽

Financial Aspect

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to identify strategies that caregivers of people with dementia use for financial and estate planning and what advice they would give to others in their position. Design/methodology/approach – Data were gathered via in-depth in-person interviews with 34 caregivers of individuals with dementia. Participants were asked questions about: how they financed care; the resources and people they used to help manage care and finances; and advice they would give to other caregivers. Findings – Caregivers wished that they had done more in-depth planning regarding dementia care and financial arrangements. Participants also wished they had saved more money for care expenses or a “nest-egg.” Participants had mixed feelings about the usefulness and trustworthiness of financial advisors, but those who had elder care lawyers recommended them highly. Research limitations/implications – It would be beneficial to reproduce this study with a larger, gender-balanced sample with a wider variety of socio-economic backgrounds. Social implications – The advice and insight provided in this paper are useful both to dementia caregivers, who can learn from the experiences of those interviewed, and to industry professionals such as financial advisors and elder care lawyers, who may recognize from these interviews the areas in which caregivers need assistance and the services they can provide to help them navigate this disease. Originality/value – This paper provides insights from actual caregivers about their experiences dealing with the financial aspect of dementia, an aspect of the disease that is not widely discussed.

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