Efficacy and experiences of telephone counselling for informal carers of people with dementia

Psychosocial intervention for carers of people with dementia: What components are most effective and when? A systematic review of systematic reviews

“…Nature of the intervention Seven reviews reported on studies of technology-based interventions; six were of moderate quality (Boots et al, 2014;Elvish et al, 2013;Olazaran et al, 2010;Peacock and Forbes, 2003;Pusey and Richards, 2001;Thompson et al, 2007) and one was high quality (Lins et al, 2014). Reviews varied considerably in the degree of definition of the intervention; 2 reviews did not specify any definition (Peacock and Forbes, 2003;Pusey and Richards, 2001).…”

“…Of the seven reviews only two (Elvish et al, 2013;Lins et al, 2014) stated a primary outcome measure, which were carer wellbeing and depressive symptoms respectively. Lins et al (2014) also identified secondary outcome measures for their evaluation of efficacy; these included carer outcomes (burden, distress, anxiety, quality of life, self-efficacy and satisfaction) and outcomes for people with dementia outcomes (institutionalisation, mood, quality of life).…”

“…Three of the seven reviews reported meta-analyses of technology-based interventions (Lins et al, 2014;Olazaran et al, 2010;Thompson et al, 2007). The one high quality review assessed the efficacy and experiences of telephone counselling for carers of PWD (Lins et al, 2014) reported evidence for some carer outcomes (confidence, depression and self-efficacy) but concluded the evidence was of low quality due to variations in intervention type, dosage and duration and methodological quality of the included studies.…”

“…The one high quality review assessed the efficacy and experiences of telephone counselling for carers of PWD (Lins et al, 2014) reported evidence for some carer outcomes (confidence, depression and self-efficacy) but concluded the evidence was of low quality due to variations in intervention type, dosage and duration and methodological quality of the included studies. A review of studies that used either computerassisted screen telephones or ordinary telephones (Elvish et al, 2013) found all 5 quantitative studies (reported a significant positive impact on depression, burden and social support.…”

Understanding qualitative research in health care

“…For example, in one study, alongside a quantitative review on the efficacy of telephone counselling for informal carers of people with dementia, qualitative methods were used to explore carers' experiences of receiving telephone counselling and counsellors' experiences of conducting telephone counselling 7. Analysis of quantitative and qualitative results identified areas for improvement.…”