Developing a Measurement Strategy for Assessing Family Caregiver Skills: Conceptual Issues.

This report presents a conceptual approach to assessing skills of family caregivers for persons with Alzheimer's disease and recommends next steps for development of this science. Researchers used multiple methods to develop a conceptual strategy for assessing family caregiver skills. Study participants included clinical/outreach staff from an Alzheimer's Disease Center, nursing faculty with expertise in dementia care, and family caregivers. Mixed methods contributed to the conceptual clarification of caregiving skill and to the development of three approaches to assessing caregiver skill: caregiver self report, clinician assessment, and direct observational assessment. Caregiver effectiveness has the potential to affect the process of caregiving and outcomes for the person with dementia and caregiver.