Cha Jinhee, Peterson Colleen M, Millenbah Ashley N, Louwagie Katie, Baker Zachary G, Shah Ayush, Jensen Christine J, Gaugler Joseph E
Medical School and School of Public Health, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, United States.
University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, United States.
JMIR Aging. 2022 May 3;5(2):e35847. doi: 10.2196/35847.
Estimates suggest that 6.2 million Americans aged ≥65 years are living with Alzheimer dementia in 2021, and by 2060, this number could more than double to 13.8 million. As a result, public health officials anticipate a greater need for caregivers of persons with Alzheimer disease or related dementia and support resources for both people living with dementia and their caregivers. Despite the growing need for dementia caregiver support services, there is a lack of consensus regarding how to tailor these services to best meet the heterogeneous needs of individual caregivers. To fill this gap, Care to Plan (CtP), a web-based tool for caregivers of people living with dementia, was developed to provide tailored support recommendations to dementia caregivers.
The aim of this study is to formally explore the feasibility, acceptability, and utility of CtP for 20 family members of people living with dementia within a health system over a 1-month time period using a mixed methods parallel convergent design.
A moderately sized health system in the mid-Atlantic region was selected as the site for CtP implementation, where 20 caregivers who were family members of people living with dementia were enrolled. The web-based CtP tool was used by caregivers and facilitated by a health care professional (ie, a senior care navigator [SCN]). Caregivers were given a 21-item review checklist to assess barriers and facilitators associated with reviewing CtP with an SCN. Following the 21-item review checklist, semistructured telephone interviews, which included 18 open-ended questions, focused on the facilitators of and barriers to CtP implementation and recommendations for future implementation.
Quantitative results suggested that 85% (17/20) of caregivers indicated that CtP was helpful and 90% (18/20) would recommend CtP to someone in a similar situation. The qualitative analysis identified 4 themes regarding facilitators of and barriers to implementation: caregiver factors, SCN factors, CtP tool system factors, and recommendations and resources factors.
CtP was found to be not only feasible but also a valuable tool for caregivers seeking resources for themselves and their people living with dementia. Long-term evaluation findings aim to generate results on how CtP can be integrated into care plans for caregivers and how SCNs can provide additional support for caregivers of people living with dementia over an extended period.
据估计，2021年有620万年龄≥65岁的美国人患有阿尔茨海默病性痴呆，到2060年，这一数字可能会增加一倍多，达到1380万。因此，公共卫生官员预计对阿尔茨海默病或相关痴呆症患者的护理人员以及为痴呆症患者及其护理人员提供支持资源的需求将更大。尽管对痴呆症护理人员支持服务的需求不断增加，但对于如何调整这些服务以最好地满足个体护理人员的异质需求，仍缺乏共识。为了填补这一空白，开发了“关爱计划（CtP）”，这是一种面向痴呆症患者护理人员的基于网络的工具，旨在为痴呆症护理人员提供量身定制的支持建议。
本研究的目的是使用混合方法平行收敛设计，在1个月的时间内，正式探讨CtP在一个卫生系统中对20名痴呆症患者家庭成员的可行性、可接受性和实用性。
选择大西洋中部地区一个规模适中的卫生系统作为实施CtP的地点，招募了20名痴呆症患者的家庭成员作为护理人员。护理人员使用基于网络的CtP工具，并由一名医疗保健专业人员（即高级护理导航员[SCN]）提供协助。护理人员收到一份包含21个项目的审查清单，以评估与与SCN一起审查CtP相关的障碍和促进因素。在完成21项审查清单后，进行了半结构化电话访谈，其中包括18个开放式问题，重点关注CtP实施的促进因素和障碍以及未来实施的建议。
定量结果表明，85%（17/20）的护理人员表示CtP很有帮助，90%（18/20）的护理人员会向处于类似情况的人推荐CtP。定性分析确定了关于实施促进因素和障碍的4个主题：护理人员因素、SCN因素、CtP工具系统因素以及建议和资源因素。
发现CtP不仅可行，而且对于为自己和患有痴呆症的亲人寻求资源的护理人员来说是一个有价值的工具。长期评估结果旨在得出关于如何将CtP纳入护理人员护理计划以及SCN如何在较长时间内为痴呆症患者护理人员提供额外支持的结果。
