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Our research aims to clarify the thinking processes involved in care work of care workers who care for the elderly. We conducted interviews with 12 care workers working in an elderly day‐care center and analyzed the data with the Modified Grounded Theory Approach (M‐GTA). As a result, 26 concepts were generated. Next, these concepts were divided into eight categories and further summarized into four central categories. The structure of the care worker's thinking was explained according to four central categories: Think about care attitude, Determine care attitude, Care for the users, and Foundation of care. From these results, we confirmed that care workers attach great importance to maintaining their three central categories of thinking processes and foundation of care to provide quality care to the users. We also confirmed that the three central categories are divided into positive and negative concepts that affect the quality of care for the users. Accordingly, to provide high‐quality care for elderly users, it is necessary to consider the organizational mechanisms that support care workers' three thinking processes and foundation of care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Dyspnea is a common distressing symptom in patients with malignant and nonmalignant diseases. Fan therapy, which uses a fan to blow air toward the patient's face, can alleviate dyspnea; however, its efficacy remains unclear. Aim: To examine the immediate efficacy of fan therapy for alleviation of dyspnea at rest. Design: Meta-analysis. Data sources: We searched the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials in the Cochrane Library, MEDLINE EBSCO, CINAHL EBSCO, and Scopus from January 1, 1987, to August 21, 2018 (PROSPERO-CRD42018108610). In addition, we hand-searched studies and used the similar articles feature on PubMed to search for articles. Randomized controlled trials comparing the effects of fan therapy with placebo or other interventions to alleviate dyspnea at rest, in which patients were aged ≥18 years, were eligible for inclusion in the review. We excluded articles on long-term intervention involving fan therapy and complex intervention (including fan therapy). The risk of bias assessment was conducted using the Cochrane tool, and the meta-analysis was performed using RevMan version 5.3. Results: We identified a total of 218 studies; 2 met our criteria for inclusion in the meta-analysis. Fan therapy significantly improved dyspnea at rest in terminally ill patients with cancer compared to control groups (mean difference: −1.31, 95% confidence interval: −1.79 to −0.83, P <.001). There were no studies that met the inclusion criteria regarding fan therapy for patients with nonmalignant disease. Conclusions: This meta-analysis demonstrated that fan therapy may be an effective intervention for dyspnea at rest in patients with terminal cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Even if patients with terminal cancer hope to spend the rest of their lives at home, they are often unable to leave the hospital early due to their family caregivers’ anxiety. This study aimed to investigate in Japan the discrepancies between the supports needed by and actually provided by palliative care unit nurses (PCUNs) to the family caregivers for discharge of patients with terminal cancer. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, self-administered questionnaires including 6-point Likert-type scales assessing the reasons for difficulties in transition to home-based care were distributed to 1227 PCUNs. Using paired t tests, the differences between the scores on perceived importance and actual supports to family caregivers were examined. The supports actually provided were classified by factor analysis. The relationships between the PCUNs’ characteristics and mean scores on the supports in each category were examined using multiple regression analysis. Results: A total of 1023 (83.4%) completed questionnaires were returned. Scores on the actually provided supports for discharge to family caregivers were consistently and significantly lower than the corresponding scores on perceived importance for all 57 items (P < .001). Factor analysis revealed that the supports actually provided to the family caregivers had a 4-factor structure. Multiple regression analyses revealed that gaining experience in palliative care, receiving necessary training, cooperating with palliative care staff, and cooperating with local service providers were significantly associated with higher levels of actual supply of supports to family caregivers. Conclusion: Our findings suggest that PCUNs need to be encouraged to provide further support to family caregivers for the discharge of patients with terminal cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Our research aims to clarify the thinking processes involved in care work of care workers who care for the elderly. We conducted interviews with 12 care workers working in an elderly day‐care center and analyzed the data with the Modified Grounded Theory Approach (M‐GTA). As a result, 26 concepts were generated. Next, these concepts were divided into eight categories and further summarized into four central categories. The structure of the care worker's thinking was explained according to four central categories: Think about care attitude, Determine care attitude, Care for the users, and Foundation of care. From these results, we confirmed that care workers attach great importance to maintaining their three central categories of thinking processes and foundation of care to provide quality care to the users. We also confirmed that the three central categories are divided into positive and negative concepts that affect the quality of care for the users. Accordingly, to provide high‐quality care for elderly users, it is necessary to consider the organizational mechanisms that support care workers' three thinking processes and foundation of care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We read with interest the recent paper entitled "Factors associated with long-term impact on informal caregivers during Alzheimer's disease dementia progression: 36-month results from GERAS" by Reed I et al i . We believe that longitudinal studies emphasizing caregiver burden, functional abilities and behavioral symptoms will be beneficial in understanding the burdens of caregivers of persons with dementia. [Extracted from the article]

Impacts of a multicomponent intervention programme on neuropsychiatric symptoms in people with dementia and psychological health of caregivers: a feasibility pilot study. Patient and caregiver benefit from a comprehensive dementia care program: 1-year results from the UCLA Alzheimer's and Dementia Care Program. [Extracted from the article]