Health & social care in the community
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Health Soc Care Community · Jul 2014
Carers' quality of life and experiences of adult social care support in England.
Informal carers make a vital contribution to the well-being of the people they care for or look after. Against the policy background in England, the purpose of this study was to explore the views of carers who are in contact with adult social care support services. ⋯ We find that carers' QoL is affected by social care support directed at carers and support directed at those they care for, as well as access to services, the experience of stigma in communities, and in how individual needs and preferences are considered when making decisions about care. While there is much to welcome in the direction of policy in England, this study has shown that there are some gaps in thinking around these areas that will need to be addressed if the lives of carers are to be improved.
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Health Soc Care Community · Jul 2014
Barriers to the provision of high-quality palliative care for people with dementia in England: a qualitative study of professionals' experiences.
Approaches to palliative care that were originally developed for people with cancer are now being adopted for people with dementia, as a response to many reports of poor-quality care for people with dementia at the end of life. This study explored perceived barriers to the delivery of high-quality palliative care for people with dementia using semi-structured interviews. Recordings were transcribed verbatim and analysed using thematic analysis with an inductive approach and a coding strategy. ⋯ Two group interviews (n = 7 and n = 6), 16 individual interviews and five interviews of pairs of professionals were conducted in 2011/2012 with participants from backgrounds in palliative care, dementia services, palliative care research and policy making. Four themes were identified as barriers to providing high-quality palliative care for people with dementia: (i) ambivalence towards the systematisation of palliative care; (ii) disconnection between services; (iii) different assumptions about training needs; and (iv) negotiation of risk. Understanding these barriers to providing high-quality palliative care for people with dementia could help in the development of a dementia-specific palliative care pathway.
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Health Soc Care Community · Jul 2014
Health-related quality of life and activities of daily living in 85-year-olds in Sweden.
Few studies have examined health-related quality of life (HRQoL) with respect to daily living and health factors for relatively healthy elderly individuals. To this end, this study examines 85-year-olds' reported HRQoL in relation to social support, perceived health, chronic diseases, healthcare use and instrumental activities of daily living (IADL). Data were collected from 360 participants (55% response rate) between March 2007 and March 2008 using a postal questionnaire and a home visit interview. ⋯ Healthcare use and healthcare costs were correlated with lower HRQoL. HRQoL is of importance to healthcare providers and must be considered together with IADL in the elderly population when planning interventions. These should take into account the specific needs and resources of the older individuals.