Family group conferencing in dementia care: an exploration of opportunities and challenges

Abstract

Sammendrag:Background: The Family Group Conference (FGC) is an approach to partnership working which brings together service users, their support network and care professionals in a family-led decision making forum. Evidence, though limited, indicates that that FGC can enhance outcomes for service providers and their users. This study aimed to evaluate the impact of the pilot FGC service, delivered to people with dementia and their families, in terms of the experience of care provision by families and care professionals involved in the project. Methods: Focus group interviews were conducted with families and professionals participating in the pilot intervention. Results: FGC was perceived as having the potential to positively impact service users, their families, service providers and the wider culture of care. However, despite an overall positive evaluation the participants identified a number of challenges related to service implementation. Both the opportunities and challenges identified in this study are discussed in the context of the existing international evidence base. Conclusions: This study contributes to a better understanding of the applicability of FGC as a strategy to support people with dementia and their families. Although promising in terms of potential outcomes for service users and providers, FGC presents challenges which need to be carefully managed in order to secure maximum benefit to all parties.Omsorgsbiblioteket har ikke tilgang til å publisere dette dokumentet i fulltekst. Kanskje ditt lokale bibliotek kan hjelpe deg, eller kanskje du kommer videre med lenken nedenfor.

Enhancing shared and surrogate decision making for people living with dementia: A systematic review of the effectiveness of interventions

“…These are summarized in Table 5. Reasons for exclusion from the primary review included hypothetical decisions, 46‐49 studies not exploring effectiveness, 50‐56 a focus on non‐health‐care decisions 57 or outcomes unrelated to decision making 58 . Despite reasons for exclusion, there is merit in a narrative exploration of these interventions as many relate to large‐scale funded trials or have undergone earlier testing which may precede studies of effectiveness.…”

“…Several interventions focus on the PLwD at the earlier stage of dementia 54,55,57 . Talking Mats is presented as a practical approach to support PLwD to communicate their preferences 53,57 ; this has not been evaluated for effectiveness but could potentially enhance communication and support participation in SDM.…”

“…Talking Mats is presented as a practical approach to support PLwD to communicate their preferences 53,57 ; this has not been evaluated for effectiveness but could potentially enhance communication and support participation in SDM. Other interventions target either a patient‐caregiver dyad or the family member alone to establish preferences to inform future care 52,54‐56 . Górska et al, 54 present a family conferencing schedule that can be used to support care for a PLwD at any stage.…”

“…Other interventions target either a patient‐caregiver dyad or the family member alone to establish preferences to inform future care 52,54‐56 . Górska et al, 54 present a family conferencing schedule that can be used to support care for a PLwD at any stage. This study identified a generally positive perspective of the Family Group Conference approach but could not demonstrate effectiveness via qualitative methods alone.…”

Interprofessional collaboration in palliative dementia care through the eyes of informal caregivers

“…The importance of family involvement has been emphasized earlier in general care for older persons ( Bélanger, Desmartis, & Coulombe, 2018 ; Van Houdt, De Lepeleire, Driessche, Thijs, & Buntinx, 2011 ) and general palliative care ( Hudson, Quinn, O'Hanlon, & Aranda, 2008 ; Neto & Trindade, 2007 ) ( Górska, Forsyth, Prior, Irvine, & Haughey, 2016 ). In dementia care, informal caregivers act as person-centred information sources ( Ponnala, Block, Lingg, Kind, & Werner, 2020 ), advocators ( Bunn et al, 2017 ) and decision-makers ( Livingston et al, 2010 ), which is especially important to provide person-centred ( Reid & Chappell, 2017 ) due to the cognitive decline and communication difficulties of persons with dementia ( Hinton et al, 2007 ).…”