Teaching Wound Care to Family Caregivers

Abstract

This article is part of a series, Supporting Family Caregivers: No Longer Home Alone, published in collaboration with the AARP Public Policy Institute. Results of focus groups, conducted as part of the AARP Public Policy Institute's No Longer Home Alone video project, supported evidence that family caregivers aren't given the information they need to manage the complex care regimens of family members. This series of articles and accompanying videos aims to help nurses provide caregivers with the tools they need to manage their family member's health care at home. The articles in this new installment of the series provide simple and useful instructions that nurses should reinforce with family caregivers who perform wound care tasks. Each article also includes an informational tear sheet—Information for Family Caregivers—that contains links to instructional videos. To use this series, nurses should read the article first, so they understand how best to help family caregivers, and then encourage caregivers to watch the videos and ask questions. For additional information, see Resources for Nurses.

Upskilling programmes for unregulated care providers to provide diabetic foot screening for systematically marginalised populations: how, why and in what contexts do they work? A realist review

“…We included 52 articles spanning 39 experimental16 31–68 and 13 non-experimental articles 17 69–80. A Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) flow diagram81 was completed to record the number of papers identified, screened and included (figure 1).…”

“…Focus: In experimental articles, 19 articles focused on diabetic foot care,31 33 34 39 43 45 47–50 55–57 60 61 63 64 67 68 and 20 articles focused on diabetes in general including foot care 16 32 35–38 40–42 44 46 51–54 58 59 62 65 66. In non-experimental articles, eight focused on diabetic foot care,69 71 73 74 76–79 and five articles focused on diabetes in general 17 70 72 75 80…”

“…Nine articles focused on programmes led by CHWs,16 36 37 41 46 51 52 57 62 four led by peers,44 58 65 68 two by staff,45 59 one by a multidisciplinary team43 and one programme led by educators 53. In non-experimental articles, five articles focused on training for healthcare providers including both regulated care providers and staff,69 71 72 78 80 two for caregivers,74 79 two for multidisciplinary teams,76 77 one for both patients and care providers,75 and one article focused on training for CHWs 70. Two articles focused on programmes led by community leaders73 and CHWs 17.…”

“…Methodology: In experimental studies, nine studies were methodological research studies,34 37 49 50 54 56 60 64 65 eight were observational studies,31 39 43 45 53 58 59 61 eight used qualitative approaches,32 40 41 44 46 55 57 67 seven used pre–post design,33 35 42 47 63 66 68 five were randomised controlled trials,16 36 48 52 62 and two studies used mixed methods 38 51. While in non-experimental articles, eight articles were commentary17 69 71 73 74 76–78 and five were reviews 70 72 75 79 80…”

“…Involving peers as educators in the delivery of self-management educational programmes was recognised to enrich the delivery and depth of self-management education as they share their own experiences and commitment to change 40 44 53 58 65 68. Seven articles focused on training family partners or caregivers either alone to provide assessment and basic treatment of acute or chronic wounds,74 or with patients as part of self-management education programmes 32 39 40 54 74 79. Considering the complexity of preventive foot care, six studies described the training for UCPs as part of multidisciplinary educational interventions that included other providers such as surgeons, primary care physicians, nurses or podiatrists 38 43 47 55 76 77…”