Delivering a holistic hospital-to-home framework to support family caregivers of persons with dementia: Protocol for a feasibility study.

AIM

To evaluate the feasibility of the Carer Matters holistic hospital-to-home framework for family caregivers of people with dementia.

BACKGROUND

Family caregivers of persons with dementia face a unique blend of stressors, from behavioural management to navigating the healthcare system. It is important to provide support and assistance to help caregivers cope to enable a sustained capacity for caregiving. This led to our establishment of Carer Matters, the first holistic caregiver-centric hospital-to-home framework of support for caregivers of persons with dementia in Singapore.

METHODS

A multimethod study design will be used. We will assess the programme's feasibility and effectiveness using a Theory of Change approach, with findings synthesized using the Reach, Effectiveness, Adoption, Implementation and Maintenance (RE-AIM) framework. Our study will involve six inpatient wards of a 1700-bedded acute care hospital over 12 months. Qualitative data will be obtained from interviews of stakeholders-caregivers, healthcare professionals, hospital leaders and community leaders. Quantitative data will be collected from programme logs, surveys and evaluation forms that capture self-reported levels of mastery, anxiety, burden, and depression. Funding has been approved by the Geriatric Education and Research Institute (GERI) Intramural Project Grant (GERI Ref: GERI1626) on May 2020 for this study (£103,659), to be conducted from December 2020 to June 2022.

DISCUSSION

The stresses faced by caregivers of persons with dementia are wide and complex, necessitating a multi-faceted caregiver-oriented solution to provide sustained support, empower better management and continued capacity to care. Our study would provide insights on the feasibility and effectiveness of a caregiver-centric support programme stretching from the hospital into the community.

IMPACT

These findings will provide a blueprint on how to implement a hospital-to-home patient-caregiver framework and provide policymakers, clinicians, and advocacy groups with critical insights on the potential patient-caregiver-healthcare system outcomes that can be derived.