Family-AiD: a family-centred assessment tool in young-onset dementia

Purpose – Standards of care and care pathways for younger people with dementia vary greatly, making clinical development and service planning challenging. Staff working in dementia services identify that they use biographical knowledge of families to influence clinical decision making. This information is not collected or implemented in a formal manner; highlighting an important knowledge-practice gap. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach – The development of a family-centred assessment for use in dementia care has three core components: first, thematic development from qualitative interviews with younger people with dementia and their families; second, clinical input on a preliminary design of the tool; and third, feedback from an external panel of clinical and methodological experts and families living with young-onset dementia. Findings – The 12-item Family Assessment in Dementia (Family-AiD) tool was developed and presented for clinical use. These 12 questions are answered with a simple Likert-type scale to determine areas of unmet need and identify where families may need additional clinical support. Also included is a series of open-ended questions and a biographical timeline designed to assist staff with the collection and use of biographical and family functioning information. Originality/value – A dementia-specific clinical family assessment tool, which also collects background biographical data on family units may be a useful way to document information; inform clinical decision making; and address otherwise unmet needs. Family-AiD has potential to improve clinical care provision of people with dementia and their families. Evaluation of the feasibility and acceptability of its implementation in practice are now required.

Endogenous Altruism, Redistribution, and Long-Term Care

This paper studies public provision of long-term care insurance in a world in which family assistance is (i) uncertain and (ii) endogenous, depending on the time parents spend raising their children. Public benefits will be paid in case of disability but cannot be combined with self-insurance or family aid. The benefits are provided equally to all recipients and financed by a proportional payroll tax. The paper shows that tax distortions imply that full insurance is undesirable. It characterizes the optimal tax and identifies the elements that determine its size. Of crucial importance are the extent of under-insurance, the effect of the tax on the probability of altruism, the distortionary effect of the tax, and, with wage heterogeneity, the covariance between the social marginal utility of lifetime income and (i) earnings (positive effect) and (ii) the probability of altruism default (negative effect).

A survey of the demographic, personality and psychopatology characteristics of the runaway girls

The problem of runaway girls is one of the social problems having become more prevalent and common subject for families, welfare centres and government in Iran.Escaped girls from their home, which have been prevalent, recently have been the problematic social subject for family, aid agencies and government.ObjectiveThis study aimed at determining the demographic, personality and psychopathology characteristic of runaway girls from home in Shiraz.MethodFifty girls who escaped from home and referred to the Women's Social Emergency and Rehabilitant Centre were compared with fifty girls who lived with their parents. They were assessed by semi-structured interview based on DSMIV-TR criteria, demographic questionnaire, GHQ-28 and EPQ-R-106.ResultsThe results showed that %86 of the runaway girls were resident in cities, and %40 of them was the first child of the family. Considering the familial stability, addicted parents, death and divorce of parents; the runaway girls did not have significant differences with control group, although they had significant differences in psychiatric disorders and physical abuse. Also they had more problems in social function and extroversion, lying, addiction and crime seeking.ConclusionThe high prevalence of psychopathology and social victims of the runaway girls demands serious attention by the non-governmental and governmental organizations for increasing their mental health and social supports.