Faculty of Health, Social Care and Education, St. George's, University of London and Kingston University, London, Cranmer Terrace, Tooting, London. SW17 0RE United Kingdom.
Arch Gerontol Geriatr. 2018 May-Jun;76:188-195. doi: 10.1016/j.archger.2018.03.005. Epub 2018 Mar 7.
Volunteer led befriending and peer support is provided to a wide range of people with varying needs. Despite large numbers of such schemes for carers of people with dementia, there is little evidence for any benefits they may offer. The aim of this research was to investigate the impact of befriending and peer support on carers of people with dementia and to explore their experiences of receiving the interventions using a mixed methods approach.
Nineteen carers of people with dementia were recruited from befriending and peer support services. Carers completed the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS) and UCLA Loneliness Scale at baseline, three months and six months. Of the 16 carers who completed the quantitative phase, eight took part in depth semi-structured interviews.
A statistically significant increase in perceived social support from a significant other between baseline and three months was found (Z = 2.487, p = 0.013). Qualitative findings showed befriending and peer support to be important sources of emotional and social support for carers, which was facilitated by the volunteers' experiential similarity.
Volunteer led befriending and peer support offers carers of people with dementia emotional and social support which enables them to cope better with challenges and continue caring. This has important implications for potentially reducing breakdowns in carer mental and physical health. Future research should explore whether these finding are replicable in other locations and in more diverse populations.
志愿者主导的陪伴和同伴支持面向各种有不同需求的人群提供。尽管有许多针对痴呆症患者照顾者的此类计划，但几乎没有证据表明它们可能带来任何益处。本研究的目的是调查陪伴和同伴支持对痴呆症患者照顾者的影响，并使用混合方法来探索他们接受干预的体验。
从陪伴和同伴支持服务中招募了 19 名痴呆症患者的照顾者。照顾者在基线、三个月和六个月时完成了医院焦虑和抑郁量表（HADS）、多维感知社会支持量表（MSPSS）和加州大学洛杉矶分校孤独量表。在完成定量阶段的 16 名照顾者中，有 8 名参加了深度半结构化访谈。
在基线和三个月之间，照顾者从重要他人那里获得的感知社会支持呈显著增加（Z=2.487，p=0.013）。定性研究结果表明，陪伴和同伴支持是照顾者情感和社会支持的重要来源，志愿者的经验相似性促进了这种支持。
志愿者主导的陪伴和同伴支持为痴呆症患者的照顾者提供了情感和社会支持，使他们能够更好地应对挑战并继续照顾。这对潜在地减少照顾者身心健康的崩溃具有重要意义。未来的研究应探索这些发现是否可以在其他地点和更多样化的人群中复制。
