The relationship of staff, resident and environmental characteristics to stress experienced by staff caring for the dementing

Abstract

In a study linked to the examination of the 'MEAP' as a measure of environments for the dementing, a procedure for measuring stress in the carers of the dementing was designed and administered to staff caring for the dementing in three different facilities. Stress was attributed primarily to staff, resident, or environmental characteristics. Events were identified to which care staff of the dementing attributed their stress, and variables including types of staff training and experience, levels of dementia in residents and staff levels were discussed as possible contributors to the perception of events as stressful.K F Y wo~~~-Psychological stress, nursing staff, psychogeriatric patients.

A comparative study of stress and burnout among staff caregivers in nursing homes and acute geriatric wards

“…The same results were obtained in the sub-population of carers who experienced burnout on at least one of the three MBI sub-scales. However, it is surprising that the SEQ that was initially designed to assess the stress of carers dealing with dementia (Benjamin and Spector, 1990) seems to be sensitive to the distress of carers in general hospitals where there should be fewer demented patients. Several studies using the SEQ and other similar instruments have shown that facility-related events are more frequently reported by caregivers in nursing homes, particularly organisational (Baillon et al, 1996) and management (Dunn et al, 1994) factors such as low involvement in decision making (Jenkins and Allen, 1998).…”

“…In contrast, lower scores on the MBI-PA sub-scale correspond to higher degrees of experienced burnout. Cutoff scores have been estimated to be 21 or above on the MBI-EE sub-scale, 8 or above on the MBI-DP sub-scale and 28 or lower on the MBI-PA subscale (Prosser et al, 1996); (d) The Stressful Events Questionnaire (SEQ) (Benjamin and Spector, 1990) is a 45-item psychosocial instrument specifically exploring the subjective perception of stress in geriatric carers. 45 events potentially related to stress experienced by care-staff are divided into three categories:-resident-related events (items 1-16), selfrelated events (items 17-26) and facility-related events (items 27-45).…”

Effect of an interdisciplinary educational program on antipsychotic prescribing among nursing home residents with dementia

“…Individual meetings were also organized to discuss residents with especially difficult behaviors in order to optimize management. Nursing staff and PCA were asked to complete the Stressful Events Questionnaire (SEQ) (Benjamin and Spector, 1990) at T 0 and T 6 . The SEQ was specifically developed for staff working with residents with dementia.…”

The domus philosophy: A prospective evaluation of two residential units for the elderly mentally ill

“…It is an important tenet of the domus philosophy that the needs of the staff are as important as those of the residents, since any stress or dissatisfaction on their part will adversely affect residents' functioning and quality of care (Bond and Bond, 1987;Benjamin and Spector, 1990). It is reassuring, therefore, that the improvements in residents' functioning and quality of life identified in this domus are not associated with poor morale or psychological impairment of staff.…”