EMGO Institute for Health and Care Research, VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
J Palliat Med. 2011 May;14(5):614-22. doi: 10.1089/jpm.2010.0484. Epub 2011 Apr 12.
Families of patients with advanced dementia need to be informed about the course of the dementia and comfort care. Conditional for health care providers educating families is their knowledge and comfort in family education.
Perceived usefulness and acceptability of a Canadian family booklet explaining possible complications and comfort care in dementia was assessed by physicians and nurses caring for dementia patients in 14 nursing homes in Lombardy, Italy and 21 in the Netherlands. The practitioners received a questionnaire and translated versions adapted to local practice where needed. In 10 of 21 Dutch homes, physicians evaluated only the original Canadian version in English. A 15-item scale assessed the booklet's acceptability, for example, to inform families, or for educational purposes. Perceived usefulness referred to proportion of families of dementia patients for whom the booklet would be useful. A total of 168 evaluations were available for multivariable regression analyses.
The practitioners anticipated that the booklet would be useful for most families. Evaluation of the Dutch translation of the booklet was similar to the English version. Country (Netherlands) and profession (nurses) were independently associated with better acceptability. Usefulness was perceived as better by Italian respondents and nurses, but only in analyses unadjusted for the higher educational needs of these respondents.
Overall, the concept of written information on comfort care was appreciated by practitioners of European countries differing in attitudes toward end-of-life care. A booklet may help practitioners, and in particular nurses, in providing comfort care for dementia patients and their families.
患有晚期痴呆症的患者的家属需要了解痴呆症的病程和舒适护理。医疗保健提供者对家属进行教育的条件是他们在家庭健康教育方面的知识和舒适度。
意大利伦巴第 14 家养老院和荷兰 21 家养老院的护理痴呆症患者的医生和护士评估了一本加拿大家庭手册，该手册解释了痴呆症中可能出现的并发症和舒适护理，评估内容包括对医生和护士感知有用性和可接受性。医生和护士收到了一份问卷和翻译版本，如有需要可根据当地实践进行调整。在荷兰的 21 家养老院中，有 10 家仅评估了英文原版的加拿大版本。一个 15 项的量表评估了该手册的可接受性，例如为了告知家属，或用于教育目的。感知有用性是指手册对痴呆症患者家属有用的比例。共有 168 项评估结果可用于多变量回归分析。
从业者预计该手册对大多数家庭都有用。对该手册的荷兰语翻译版本的评估与英语版本相似。国家（荷兰）和职业（护士）与更好的可接受性独立相关。意大利受访者和护士认为有用性更好，但仅在未调整这些受访者更高的教育需求的分析中如此。
总体而言，欧洲国家的从业者对舒适护理的书面信息概念表示赞赏，这些国家对临终关怀的态度不同。一本小册子可以帮助医生，特别是护士，为痴呆症患者及其家属提供舒适护理。
