These data suggest that this intervention can reduce disabilities among elderly people at low risk but not among those at high risk for functional impairment, and that these effects are likely related to the home visitor's performance in conducting the visits.
Anorexia/cachexia of male cancer patients affects the cooking at home, a couple's daily eating routines, and their spousal relationship. Identification of ERD may trigger targeted psychosocial interventions.
Little is known about the memories of relatives after they have been confronted with the brain death of a loved one and the request for organ donation. We conducted this study, guided by Grounded Theory, to explore relatives' experiences, their interactions with health care providers and what influenced their memories. We interviewed 40 relatives (31 consenting to and 9 refusing organ donation) of 33 brain-dead individuals. Relatives described their experiences as a difficult process composed of several stages spanning from the initial encounter to the final decision about donation. Long-term memories of bereaved relatives were influenced by the characteristics of their decision-making style (clear vs. ambivalent) and the perceived quality of the interaction with professionals on the intensive care unit. Organ-focused behavior of professionals and an ambivalent decision-making style of relatives appear to be risk factors for traumatic memories.
Background: Planning the home care of growing numbers of old, dependent people must include the caregivers' burden. Methods: A convenience sample of 129 caregivers of elderly patients with multiple diagnoses was interviewed about the caregiving context, burden, caregivers' tolerance of patients' troublesome behaviours and physical symptoms, mutuality and feelings of closeness between caregiver and patient. Continued maintenance of home care was assessed by a follow-up telephone call. Results: Caregivers were mainly spouses (67%) and female (73%), and the mean duration of care was 5.5 years. In five activities of daily living (ADL) 50-69% of the patients needed full help. Caregivers reported predominantly negative effects of caregiving on their physical and mental health, rest and sleep, leisure time and social life, problems with patients' symptoms and behaviours and little or no conversing (51%) or exchanging feelings with patients (71%). Predictive models: Contributors to variance were for burden (35%), impact of care on caregivers' mental health, social relations and leisure time, patients' gender, accumulation of patients' symptoms and behaviours; for caregivers' tolerance toward patients' symptoms and behaviours (17%) caregivers' physical health, patients' level of confusion, feelings of mutuality; for mutuality (22%) and for closeness (19%) caregivers' mental health, patients' accumulation of symptoms and behaviours. Within 23 months 19% of the patients had been institutionalized. Factors giving a higher likelihood of instrtutionalization were: being male, caregiver was not a partner, and less closeness between caregiver and patient. Conclusion: Caregiving of older persons has bio-psychosocial ramifications for caregivers. Closeness between caregiver and patient seems to be a key factor in determination of the long-term outcome.
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