Search

Désirée Seidel,1,2 Jochen René Thyrian2,31Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Helios Kliniken, Schwerin, Germany; 2German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), Site Rostock/Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany; 3Institute for Community Medicine, Section Epidemiology of Health Care and Community Health, University Medicine, Greifswald, GermanyPurpose: Caring for people with dementia is known to be accompanied by burden for the caregiver. This study aims at describing family caregivers’ and professional caregivers’ burden immediately after hospitalization of the person with dementia.Materials and methods: Twenty-five family caregivers and twenty-five professional caregivers of the locked gerontopsychiatric ward of a hospital in Northern Germany completed a questionnaire (BIZA-D-PV), which was evaluated in matched samples. The distribution of frequencies, differences in mean values and correlations were determined. Furthermore, family caregivers were categorized into risk groups.Results: Family caregivers perceived a higher burden due to cognitive impairment as well as aggressive and disoriented behavior of the person with dementia compared to professional caregivers. Differences with regard to care tasks were not detected. Female family caregivers rated a higher burden compared to male family caregivers, whereas in the sample of professional caregivers males perceived a higher burden. Correlations between several dimensions of burden and caregivers’ age, severity of dementia as well as physical symptoms were described. Categorizing family caregivers into risk groups showed high risks for depression of the caregiver, violence against the person with dementia and institutionalization of the person with dementia within the next months in 44–72% of cases.Conclusion: Our findings emphasize the importance of acquiring knowledge about caregivers’ burden in the course of time in order to develop targeting interventions to decrease caregivers’ burden and to prevent hospital admissions of people with dementia due to a crisis of home caring.Keywords: care of older people, informal care, formal care, nursing care, gerontopsychiatric hospital, cross-sectional study

Jochen René Thyrian,1,* Tilly Eichler,1,* Andrea Pooch,1 Kerstin Albuerne,1 Adina Dreier,2 Bernhard Michalowsky,1 Diana Wucherer,1 Wolfgang Hoffmann1,2 1German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), Site Greifswald, WG Interventional Health Care Research, Greifswald, 2Department of Epidemiology of Health Care and Community Health, Institute for Community Medicine, University of Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany. *These authors contributed equally to this work Background: There is evidence about the benefits of early detection of dementia and subsequent provision of adequate treatment and care. However, there is a lack of knowledge about the acceptance of detection and intervention procedures. These analyses describe the attitudes of general physicians [GPs] toward 1) dementia in general, 2) systematic detection of people with dementia, and 3) an intervention approach after they have experienced both. Comparisons are made based on experience with systematic screening and dementia-specific intervention. Methods: Postal, cross-sectional survey to all n=1,252 GPs in the Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Germany. A subsample was drawn based on participation in the randomized, controlled, prospective intervention DelpHi-MV trial (Dementia: life- and person-centered help in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania). In this trial, systematic screening is implemented and an intervention group receives support through dementia care management (DCM). GPs were categorized into either GPs with DCM and systematic screening (DCM-GP), GPs with systematic screening only (DelpHi-GP), or GPs not participating in the trial. Data from n=257 GPs were available. Attitudes toward dementia were assessed using a validated questionnaire. Results: There was strong agreement toward the helpfulness of implementing a brief cognitive screening test (89.9% agreed). Approximately two-thirds of the respondents indicated that they had identified at least some patients as being cognitively impaired for the first time. The majority of the respondents indicated agreement toward DCM. It was described as supportive and helpful. The qualified nurses were perceived as competent in dementia care and 79.3% would like to be supported with DCM. Attitudes toward dementia are positive and do not differ between groups. Conclusion: The results indicate that early recognition and DCM is highly appreciated by GPs and is considered feasible or wanted to be implemented in routine care. Keywords: dementia care management, screening, general physician, primary care, implementation

Markus Wübbeler,1 Jochen René Thyrian,1 Bernhard Michalowsky,2 Johannes Hertel,2 Franziska Laporte Uribe,3 Karin Wolf-Ostermann,4 Susanne Schäfer-Walkmann,6 Wolfgang Hoffmann2,5 1Interventional Health Care Research Group, German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE) Rostock/Greifswald, 2German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE) Rostock/Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany; 3Implementation and Dissemination Research Group, German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), Witten, Germany; 4Department of Human and Health Science, University of Bremen, Bremen, Germany; 5Epidemiology of Health Care and Community Health, Institute for Community Medicine, Ernst-Moritz-Arndt-University Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany; 6Institute for Applied Social Sciences, Stuttgart, Germany Background: Nonpharmacological therapies and the provision of aids are described to be supportive in the treatment of persons with dementia (PWDs). These aim to maintain individuals' participation in daily activities as long as possible, to slow the progression of their disease, and to support their independent living at home. However, there is a lack of knowledge about the utilization of therapies and aids among community-dwelling PWDs.Objective: The aims of the study were a) to describe the utilization of nonpharmacological therapies and aids among community-dwelling PWDs and b) to analyze the factors associated with utilization.Method: As part of a cross-sectional study of n=560 caregivers of PWDs in dementia networks throughout Germany, we assessed sociodemographics, clinical variables, and the utilization of nonpharmacological therapies (physiotherapy [PT], occupational therapy [OT]), and aids (sensory, mobility, and others), using face-to-face interviews and questionnaires.Results: Approximately every fourth PWD received PT and every seventh PWD received OT. Sensory aids were utilized by 91.1%, personal hygiene aids by 77.2%, mobility aids by 58.6%, and medical aids by 57.7% of the sample. Regression analysis revealed that the utilization of PT and medical aids was associated with comorbidities (odds ratio [OR] 1.17 and OR 1.27, respectively) and that the utilization of OT and sensory aids was associated with age (OR 1.06 and OR 0.95, respectively).Conclusion: The utilization of nonpharmacological therapies and aids among community-dwelling people served by dementia networks is more frequent than that reported for people in other settings. This result indicates that PWDs in integrated care models such as dementia networks receive better health care. Keywords: aid, integrated care, collaborative care