When long-term care comes to an end: informal caregivers’ perspectives on patient discharge

Abstract

Background: The purpose of long-term integrated care units is the readaptation and reintegration into family and social life. Objective: To understand informal caregivers' perspectives on the discharge of their relatives with dementia from long-term care facilities. Methodology: Fifteen caregivers (mean age of 60 years) were interviewed, and data were qualitatively analyzed using NVivo. Results: Despite the concern and fear about discharge, most participants did not take any action. When questioned about what they would do if their family member was discharged from the unit, they mentioned that they would return home (n = 5) or go to a residential facility for older people (n = 10). This decision is justified by one or more reasons, namely environmental factors, caregiver unavailability, relationship of proximity, economic issues, and family issues. Conclusion: Healthcare professionals should consider the reasons influencing the integration and delivery of patient care after discharge to better support, train, and empower informal caregivers. These measures should be part of a care routine.

Stress, Overload and Quality of Life in Caregivers of Children With/Without Orofacial Cleft and Dysphagia

“…Added to this is the fact that caregivers sometimes neglect their own health and self-care to care for their children. These factors in association can cause, in the short and medium term, overload and/or stress that will influence the quality of care provided and the perception of quality of life [10][11] .…”

Validação de conteúdo de um instrumento de avaliação do impacto do transtorno neurocognitivo na família

“…The emotional needs relate to the feeling of discomfort of the person in a specific moment of his/her life to cope with the illness situation and its repercussions and with the behavior of the sick person. According to the study conducted by Carvalho, Araújo, and Veríssimo (2019), the family experiences fear, sadness, insecurity, and difficulty in imagining a future for the sick person and for himself/herself. Thus, it is important to identify strategies that allow the family to deal daily with the person with NCD through training, information, support, and a more individualized service in the provision of health care and social support.…”

Religious/spiritual coping in informal caregivers of children with cleft lip and/or dysphagic palate

“…Furthermore, they need to adapt to the reality they experience, requiring dedication and, at times, exclusive availability. In this sense, an investigation identified that caring parents experience overload, stress, anxiety, in addition to different degrees of depression (8)(9) . Despite this, with the benefits of using the feeding tube, such as weight gain and adequate child development, negative reactions and feelings are minimized, thus evidencing the use of situational coping or coping strategies (7) .…”

“…Thus, the demand for care linked to the diagnosis of a chronic situation can lead to drastic physical and emotional symptoms, which may negatively influence behavior and adaptation, also affecting the quality of care provided (8)(9) . Thus, adaptations are needed so that they experience this period in a less painful way, that is, it is necessary to establish or develop modalities of situational coping, referred to as coping.…”