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Dementia carer education and patient behaviour disturbance
Author(s) -
Coen Robert F.,
O'Boyle Ciaran A.,
Coakley D.,
Lawlor Brian A.
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
international journal of geriatric psychiatry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.28
H-Index - 129
eISSN - 1099-1166
pISSN - 0885-6230
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1099-1166(199904)14:4<302::aid-gps905>3.0.co;2-1
Subject(s) - dementia , intervention (counseling) , quality of life (healthcare) , psychology , disturbance (geology) , cognition , challenging behaviour , medicine , psychiatry , clinical psychology , gerontology , learning disability , disease , paleontology , pathology , biology , psychotherapist
Objective To evaluate the impact of a dementia Carer Education Programme on carer quality of life (QoL), burden, and well‐being. Design Single group before–after intervention study. The group was subdivided by perceived status post‐programme for intragroup analysis. Setting Hospital memory clinic. Participants Convenience sample of 32 dementia carers. Intervention Eight weekly 2 h education and support sessions run by a psychogeriatric clinical team. Measures Pre‐programme and 6 months post‐programme data were obtained. Measures included individually perceived QoL, burden, well‐being, managing problem behaviour, appraisal of social support, knowledge of dementia, and perception of the programme. Patients were characterized in terms of cognition, behaviour disturbance and functional status. Results Twelve carers reported their situation post‐programme as ‘better’, 12 as ‘worse’, and four as ‘no change’. There were no significant baseline differences. For ‘better/no change’ carers the only significant change over time was increased knowledge about dementia. For ‘worse’ carers knowledge also increased, but there was evidence of poorer QoL, increased burden, a poorer appraisal of social support, and increased patient behaviour disturbance. Only patient behaviour disturbance significantly discriminated ‘no change/better’ from ‘worse’ carers ( F =4.08, p =0.055). Conclusions The programme increased carers' knowledge about dementia, but had no significant impact on QoL, burden, or well‐being. Increased patient behaviour disturbance appeared to be a major factor when the carer's situation worsened over time. Despite high carer satisfaction the efficacy of a group‐based education approach to the management of behaviour disturbance in dementia appears limited. More intensive or individually tailored interventions may be necessary alternatives. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.