Family Caregiver Distress

"Nurses play a vital role in improving the safety and quality of patient car -- not only in the hospital or ambulatory treatment facility, but also of community-based care and the care performed by family members. Nurses need know what proven techniques and interventions they can use to enhance patient outcomes. To address this need, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), with additional funding from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, has prepared this comprehensive, 1,400-page, handbook for nurses on patient safety and quality -- Patient Safety and Quality: An Evidence-Based Handbook for Nurses. (AHRQ Publication No. 08-0043)." - online AHRQ blurb, http://www.ahrq.gov/qual/nurseshdbk/

Family caregiving affects millions of Americans every day, in all walks of life. At least 17.7 million individuals in the United States are caregivers of an older adult with a health or functional limitation. The nation's family caregivers provide the lion's share of long-term care for our older adult population. They are also central to older adults' access to and receipt of health care and community-based social services. Yet the need to recognize and support caregivers is among the least appreciated challenges facing the aging U.S. population. Families Caring for an Aging America examines the prevalence and nature of family caregiving of older adults and the available evidence on the effectiveness of programs, supports, and other interventions designed to support family caregivers. This report also assesses and recommends policies to address the needs of family caregivers and to minimize the barriers that they encounter in trying to meet the needs of older adults.

Get the science on helping reduce stress in family caregivers of people with dementia: Details the best tools for assessment and explores evidence-based approaches Reflects on diversity, equity, and inclusion Includes downloadable handouts Guidance for supporting family caregivers on maintaining positive mental health This is the first book that takes a "deep dive" to answer the questions that mental health providers encounter when working with family caregivers. Just what are the unique issues family caregivers face? How does this impact their mental health? What can providers do to help? Based on research and clinical experiences of the authors, this volume in our Advances in Psychotherapy series focuses on examining the specific issues that caregivers of people with Alzheimer's disease or other forms of dementia face. Practitioners learn about the best tools for assessment and which evidence-based interventions help reduce caregiver distress – including cognitive behavioral therapy, acceptance and commitment therapy, and mindfulness and multicomponent intervention programs. Resources in the appendix include a caretaker intake interview, and the book is interspersed with clinical vignettes that highlight issues of diversity, equity, and inclusion – making this is an essential text for mental health providers from a variety of disciplines including psychology, psychiatry, nursing, social work, marriage and family counseling, as well as trainees in these disciplines.

This book is the product of the authors’ research and clinical practice in the field of psycho-oncology, stress, and coping for a period of over twenty years. It fills a gap that exists in the discussion of caregiver distress felt by both cancer researchers and psycho-oncologists in the vital area of predicting, acknowledging, and alleviating the distress of caregivers of cancer patients, and it focuses on the caregivers of cancer patients in various phases of the illness. The discussion of cancer-patient caregivers is divided into three aspects: theoretical (Part 1), research (Part 2), and practical (Part 3) issues. The analysis of these areas can be useful to clinicians, researchers, medical/psychological social workers, and nurses by familiarizing them with the spectrum of stresses experienced by cancer patients and their caregivers, and the coping methods that have proven most effective. Part One presents theoretical background on the structure and progression of the caregiver role and how caregivers cope with the illness as explored in recent literature. Part Two presents empirical research on caregiver psychological distress carried out by the authors during 1993-1999. Part Three examines two important issues. The first is intervention for reducing caregiver distress, and the second issue is the ethical question of caregiver involvement in the patient’s medical decisions. The book is timely, as it is felt that the issue at hand will have mounting importance and relevance to our society as it experiences growing longevity and concomitant challenges in cancer caregiving.

One in five Canadians are now providing eldercare to a parent in need, and as baby-boomers age, this number is likely to grow. What do you do when your mother or father grows old? It’s the natural course of life, but so many children of aging parents are unprepared. When a parent’s health begins to fail, an adult child is left scrambling to find help, to balance their time, and to cope. The Caregiver’s Guide will provide readers with valuable tips and advice to help them to provide the best eldercare possible while balancing the demands on their time. This is not a mental “self-help” book. While it does provide encouragement and support for caregivers, it also provides practical advice on how to care for elders in need. This comprehensive guide answers all a caregiver’s common questions, such as: • Should my parent stay at home or move to assisted living? • How do I balance caregiving responsibilities with my personal life? • When to apply for guardianship and/or trusteeship • How to hire a professional caregiver should the need arise

Get the science on helping reduce stress in family caregivers of people with dementia: Details the best tools for assessment and explores evidence-based approaches Reflects on diversity, equity, and inclusion Includes downloadable handouts Guidance for supporting family caregivers on maintaining positive mental health This is the first book that takes a "deep dive" to answer the questions that mental health providers encounter when working with family caregivers. Just what are the unique issues family caregivers face? How does this impact their mental health? What can providers do to help? Based on research and clinical experiences of the authors, this volume in our Advances in Psychotherapy series focuses on examining the specific issues that caregivers of people with Alzheimer's disease or other forms of dementia face. Practitioners learn about the best tools for assessment and which evidence-based interventions help reduce caregiver distress – including cognitive behavioral therapy, acceptance and commitment therapy, and mindfulness and multicomponent intervention programs. Resources in the appendix include a caretaker intake interview, and the book is interspersed with clinical vignettes that highlight issues of diversity, equity, and inclusion – making this is an essential text for mental health providers from a variety of disciplines including psychology, psychiatry, nursing, social work, marriage and family counseling, as well as trainees in these disciplines.

Given medical advances and greater understanding of healthful living habits, people are living longer lives. Proportionally speaking, a greater percentage of the population is elderly. Despite medical advances, there is still no cure for dementia, and as elderly individuals succumb to Alzheimer's Disease or related dementia, more and more people are having to care their elderly parents and /or siblings. Profiles in Caregiving is practical source of information for anyone who teaches caregiving, acts as a caregiver, or studies caregiving. This book discusses recent research on stress factors associated with caregiving, and what factors impact on successful versus non-successful adaptation to the care-giving role. This is an expanding field in gerontology, and is also of interest to personality and social psychologists studying stress and interpersonal relations. Although there are many books on the cause and treatment of dementia, there has been a book that provides a research investigation into the factors associated with effective caregiving to dementia patients. Conceptualizes caregiving as a multistage career whose impact on the caregiver continues to be felt after in-home care has ceased Based upon a longitudinal survey of a demographically diverse sample of principal caregivers over a three-year period Identifies caregivers who are most at-risk for adverse adaptation to the role Describes preventative and clinical intervention strategies Identifies post-care risk and issues Identifies antecedents to successful adaptation State of the art analytic techniques Graphic presentation of empirical findings Renowned multidisciplinary research team