| |
Centre for Policy on Ageing | |
 | |
|
Carer-held records for dementia
— a controlled trial | | Author(s) | Rosemary Simpson, Penny Wakefield, Nicola Spiers |
| Journal title | International Psychogeriatrics, vol 18, no 2, June 2006 |
| Pages | pp 259-268 |
| Keywords | Dementia ; Informal care ; Stress ; Psychiatric treatment ; Management [care] ; Medical care ; Longitudinal surveys ; Leicestershire. |
| Annotation | A carer-held record (CHR) was developed to enable carers to contribute to care plans for their relatives with dementia, alongside other professionals. This study aimed to establish whether CHRs provide any measurable benefits for carers in relation to health, stress, knowledge of dementia and locus of control. This was a controlled parallel group trial involving 84 carer patient pairs drawn from all referrals to two community mental health teams (CMHTs) in Leicestershire. Subjects from one CMHT were given CHRs, while the control group from the other CMHT were not. Carers in both groups completed instruments measuring knowledge of dementia, carer stress and strain, carer health, and locus of control (internal, external, chance, shared care) at three time points - baseline, 6 months and 1 year - and findings are reported for outcomes for 51 carer/patient pairs. Having a CHR was associated with significantly reduced scores on the Carer Strain Index at 1 year. Regarding locus of control, external controls scores were significantly lower for the intervention group, by 2.5 points at 6 months and 3.43 points at 1 year. There was a significant group by time interaction in chance control, with the difference in chance control between groups widening between 6 and 12 months. In the shared care dimension of locus of control, there was no difference at 6 months, but a significant group by time interaction, with the intervention group maintaining a higher level of internal control between 6 and 12 months, while the control group reduced. No significant differences were identified in the domains of carer health or knowledge of dementia. Although not a randomised controlled trial, and limited by a smaller sample size than planned, this study indicates that use of CHRs provides some benefits for carers in the domains of carer strain and locus of control. (RH). |
| Accession Number | CPA-090825004 A |
| Classmark | EA: P6: QNH: LP: QA: LK: 3J: 8LE |
Data © Centre for Policy on Ageing |
|
| ...from the Ageinfo database published by Centre for Policy on Ageing. |
| |
|