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Centre for Policy on Ageing | |
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A multi-centre survey among informal carers who manage medication for older care recipients
— problems experienced and development of services | | Author(s) | Felicity Smith, Sally-Anne Francis, Nicola Gray |
| Journal title | Health & Social Care in the Community, vol 11, no 2, March 2003 |
| Pages | pp 138-145 |
| Keywords | Drugs ; Informal care ; Cross sectional surveys. |
| Annotation | The management of medication is one aspect of the caring role presenting its own problems. This study's objective is to report the number and type of problems experienced by informal carers when managing medication for older care recipients, and to relate these to measures of coping and health. A cross-sectional survey was undertaken in one district in each of four randomly selected health authority areas in England. Structured interviews comprising closed and open questions with 184 informal carers and 93 associated care recipients were conducted in participants' own homes. Results on the number and type of medication-related problems indicated 67% of carers as reporting problems with at least one medication-related activity. Four themes were identified from carers' accounts: maintaining continuous supplies of medication in the home; assisting with administration; making clinical judgements; and communicating with care recipients and health professionals. Carers reporting greater numbers of medication-related problems were more likely to experience higher levels of carer strain and poorer mental health. (RH). |
| Accession Number | CPA-030319207 A |
| Classmark | LLD: P6: 3KB |
Data © Centre for Policy on Ageing |
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| ...from the Ageinfo database published by Centre for Policy on Ageing. |
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