[A brief reference to this item appears in: Dementia and Elderly Care: the Latest Evidence Newsletter (RWHT), Volume 3 Issue 3, October 2012].
Summary
The Prime Minister’s Dementia Challenge, and the earlier National Dementia Strategy, both give high importance to health professionals providing support to the carers of people with dementia. This review examines the evidence concerning the role of occupational therapists in supporting carers of people with dementia in the community, based on a literature review of work in the United Kingdom published between 1999 and 2010
Seventeen studies were identified about interventions which might assist carers, such as reminiscence and cognitive behavioural therapy, delivered by different professionals and using a variety of outcome measures. The methodological quality of these studies was considered to be poor by the authors of this review, with very few studies providing evidence of improvements or other outcomes as a result of these interventions.
This review identifies the need for robust research into the impact of interventions on carers of people with dementia. There is, in particular, a shortage of research into the current role of occupational therapists working with such caregivers, and a lack of hard evidence to support the expansion of this potentially valuable role currently.
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Reference
Hall, L. [and] Skelton, DA (2012). Occupational therapy for caregivers of people with dementia: a review of the United Kingdom literature. British Journal of Occupational Therapy June 2012; Vol.75(6): pp.281-288.
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It’s interesting to read about a literature review on caregivers uk and this looks like a great bit of research for people.