Service use in family caregivers of persons with dementia in Belgium: psychological and social factors

Abstract

This study aims to investigate whether selected social and psychological characteristics of family caregivers of persons with dementia are related to community-based service use in Belgium. Two aspects were distinguished in service utilisation: volume (number of contacts) and diversity (number of services). Within a selected region, dementia caregivers were traced via the detection of persons with dementia known to community health or social services. A probability diagnosis was made with the Geriatric Mental State and the computer algorithm AGECAT. Family caregivers of persons with dementia (N = 168) were interviewed at home by means of a structured questionnaire. Data were analysed with multiple regression analysis. Co-residence, a positive attitude towards home service use, and increased problem-solving coping were found to be direct predictors of increased diversity of services used, whereas a lower burden of behaviour problems, living apart, and increased avoidance coping were found to be direct predictors of increased volume of service use. Care recipients' behaviour problems and functional status were not found to be related to service use. The results suggest that social and psychological factors have a larger impact on service use in family caregivers of persons with dementia, compared to objective or subjective burden. Interventions to increase awareness of relevant services, to improve attitudes towards their use and support problem-solving coping in family caregivers may be considered to increase the use of appropriate services.

Paid and unpaid support received by co-resident informal caregivers attending to community-dwelling older adults in Spain

“…Previous articles have shown that an important part of the time devoted to housework by caregivers is for their care receivers (Bittman et al 2004), so it would be interesting to add these tasks to the definition in future research. Psychological predisposing factors were missed in the analysis while others found them significant in previous studies (Roelands et al 2008). Larger samples are called for to confirm these results and to explore specific situations (e.g.…”

Empowered or overpowered? Service use, needs, wants and demands in elderly patients with cognitive impairments

“…This in line with Brodaty et al (2005), who indicated that a main reason caregivers gave for not using services was that they did not consider they needed the services. It is possible that this is related to the inability to accept that help is needed and to the stigma attached to dementia (Roelands et al, 2008). In fact, presence of a physical disability of the care recipient was associated with service use, possibly because this was seen as more acceptable (than dementia) to utilize services (Brodaty et al, 2005).…”

“…Finally, it would have been interesting to include neuropsychiatric problems as a predictor variable in this study. Although the relationship between neuropsychiatric problems and service use needs further exploration (Toseland et al, 2002;Roelands et al, 2008), it is possible that these symptoms (and especially agitation or aggression) are related to the non-utilization of care. However, these symptoms were not structurally assessed by all participating services in this study.…”

Similarities and Differences in Caring Burden of Home Dwellers With Partners Suffering From Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease or Dementia

“…At the same time, the availability of nursing homes will be limited (Carpenter, 2005;Ellis & Langhorne, 2004;Hoffman, Rice, & Sung, 1996;Norwegian Ministry of Health and Care Services, 2006). Accordingly, home-dwelling cohabitants may have to substitute some of the current public aid in the future (Roelands, Van Oost, & Depoorter, 2008).…”