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Dementia 2011: a North East perspective
- Author:
- SMITH Debbie
- Publisher:
- Northern Rock Foundation
- Publication year:
- 2011
- Pagination:
- 104
- Place of publication:
- Newcastle upon Tyne
Outlines the state of dementia care in the North East, as of May 2011. The report provides an overview of the work that is being undertaken to support people with dementia and their carers by statutory, voluntary and education sectors. It highlights progress made and gaps in service development and provision; setting this work against the English policy context and the views and experiences of people with dementia and their carers. In particular, the report provides: context through demographic information, dementia types and economic challenges; details of policies that are relevant to dementia, in particular, the national dementia strategy, and any related activity that has been undertaken within the North East to deliver or comply with the policies; details of North East structures, research and regional wide dementia specific information that supports the implementation of the national dementia strategy; the North East key dementia priorities and details of progress against them including the views of North East stakeholders; and details of the remaining national dementia strategy objectives and progress against them including the view of North East stakeholders. (Edited publisher abstract)
Enhancing computer self-efficacy and attitudes in multi-ethnic older adults: a randomised controlled study
- Authors:
- LAGANA Luciana, et al
- Journal article citation:
- Ageing and Society, 31(6), August 2011, pp.911-933.
- Publisher:
- Cambridge University Press
The aims of this study were to test and refine a new measure of attitudes toward computer technology in older adults, and to test whether a training programme enhanced older adults' computer technology attitudes and self-efficacy. The participants were 96 volunteer community-dwelling adults from ethnically diverse populations aged 52 to 94 years living in Los Angeles County, California. The study involved testing one group of participants before and after 1 to 1 computer training (provided once a week for 6 weeks) aiming to increase their computer technology attitudes and self-efficacy; the control group were assessed twice but did not received any training until after completing the second assessment. Testing was carried out using the new Older Adults' Computer Technology Attitudes Scale, and the existing Computer User Self-Efficacy Scale. The article reports that the revised Older Adults' Computer Technology Attitudes Scale used for the study was found to show strong reliability, and analysis demonstrated that the training programme induced significant changes in attitudes and self-efficacy. The researchers note that the findings indicate that the enhancement of computer attitudes and self-efficacy in old age is feasible, and that this suggests a strong potential for teaching computer technology to ageing individuals from various ethnic groups.
Use of the internet in assessing service provision for older people
- Authors:
- MITCHELL Clive P., MORGAN Gareth, GALLACHER John
- Journal article citation:
- Quality in Ageing and Older Adults, 12(4), 2011, pp.234-238.
- Publisher:
- Emerald
A pilot study of using a web-based platform to evaluate health and social care provision, focusing on the National Service Framework (NSF) for health and social care for older people in Wales, is reported in this article. As part of the Age Well, Feel Good programme on active and successful ageing, a sample of 552 older people, recruited from the Cardiff area, were invited to use a website to provide evaluation data for the study. Participants were asked about awareness of the NSF and satisfaction with areas of service provision covered by the NSF. The article describes the study and its findings, including discussion of the strengths and limitations of web-based data. The authors conclude that the study demonstrates that older people are capable and willing to engage with web-based methods and that the internet is a viable technology for the evaluation of health and social care services with older people.
Improving housing with care choices for older people: the PSSRU evaluation of extra care housing
- Authors:
- DARTON Robin, et al
- Journal article citation:
- Housing Care and Support, 14(3), 2011, pp.77-82.
- Publisher:
- Emerald
This study evaluated 19 extra care schemes allocated funding from the Extra Care Housing Fund. Data was collected on the expectations and experiences of 1,182 new residents and demographic and care needs for 817 individuals who received a care assessment. Data was collected at 6, 18 and 30 months. Costs were estimated for individuals based on capital, care and support, and living expenses. Findings revealed that entrants to extra care were much less physically and cognitively impaired, on average, than entrants to care homes, although residents in several schemes had high levels of physical disability. Overall, residents appeared to have made a positive choice to live in a more supportive and social environment rather than responding to a crisis. Physical and cognitive outcomes for residents with similar characteristics to care home residents were better while costs equal. The authors concluded that extra care could provide a positive option for people planning ahead, but appeared less suitable for crisis moves.
Association between components of family caregivers' sense of burden and types of paid care services provided in Japan
- Authors:
- NAKAGAWA Yoshinori, NASU Seigo
- Journal article citation:
- Aging and Mental Health, 15(6), August 2011, pp.687-701.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
The aim of this study was to describe the correlation of the extent of use of paid care services with family caregivers' sense of burden, focusing on which factors of burden and which care services were significantly related to each other. The context was care services available through Japan's long-term care insurance system, which is explained in the article. The authors collected data through online questionnaires completed by 1,212 caregivers of older people throughout Japan who were registered members of an internet research company. The article sets out the methodology, including calculations and regression analysis, and the results. The conclusions were that paid care services do relieve caregivers' sense of burden, and that measures to increase the ratio of people with the weakest sense of burden by encouraging the use of care services do not necessarily match those that decrease the ratio of people feeling the heaviest burden. The article notes that policies that encourage caregivers to use more care services can be more effective if policymakers know which type of care service is related to a burden component.
Improving teamwork, trust and safety: an ethnographic study of an interprofessional initiative
- Authors:
- JONES Aled, JONES Delyth
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Interprofessional Care, 25(3), May 2011, pp.175-181.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
This study addressed a lack of in-depth qualitative research that could explain the day-to-day realities of interprofessional team working in healthcare. It investigated the perceptions of staff in an interprofessional team based on a medical rehabilitation ward for older people, following the introduction of a service improvement programme designed to promote better team working. Nurses, doctors, physiotherapists, social workers and occupational therapists all participated. Results indicated that interprofessional team working improved over a 12-month period. Four themes emerged from the data: the emergence of collegial trust within the team; the importance of team meetings and participative safety; the role of shared objectives in conflict management; and the value of autonomy within the team. Reductions in staff sickness and absence levels and major patient safety incidents were also detected.
The challenge of evaluating mental health services for older people
- Authors:
- McCRAE Niall, BANERJEE Sube
- Journal article citation:
- International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 26(6), June 2011, pp.551-557.
- Publisher:
- Wiley
Despite a consensus on the need to expand service capacity and function in mental health care for older people, evidence on models of service development is limited. The authors suggest that while clinicians move towards evidence-based practice, health service management and commissioning tends to continue to be driven by political expediency. In attempting to answer the question “Does it work?” it is necessary to remember that programmes do not work; people make them work. Evaluators need to look beyond the formal aspects of the programme and understand change from each participant’s perspective. Mixed methods were applied to evaluating two developments in mental health services for older people run by the South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust: Improving Quality of Care for Older People in Lambeth, and Croydon Memory Service. Drawing on these two case studies, the authors consider how evaluation of service innovations can inform policy and practice. They suggest that combining formative and summative methodology improves the contribution of evaluation of service development to the evidence base and that the realist evaluation model is useful in generating theory from complex interventions in a unique context. It is concluded that evaluation should involve both measurement and meaning when judging the value of an intervention.
Social work knowledge of community-based services for older adults: an educational model for social work students
- Authors:
- ROWAN Noell L., et al
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Gerontological Social Work, 54(2), February 2011, pp.189-202.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
- Place of publication:
- Philadelphia, USA
Knowledge of appropriate community services is one of the most important competencies for those working with older people. Social workers are often the key link between older adults, their families and community-based services. This article reports on the evaluation of a national (US) multi-site effort to increase graduate social work students’ competency related to community services for older adults. A total of 353 students from 35 schools involved in the Hartford Partnership Program for Aging Education (HPPAE) completed pre- and post-intervention questionnaires. The results suggest that the educational model described in this article produces practitioners with good knowledge of, and the skills to negotiate, the community services available to the aging population. However the authors suggest that more work is needed in some areas such as disseminating knowledge and evidence and the need for ongoing education as services change and evolve.
Silver Memories: implementation and evaluation of a unique radio program for older people
- Authors:
- TRAVERS Catherine, BARLETT Helen P.
- Journal article citation:
- Aging and Mental Health, 15(2), March 2011, pp.169-177.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
The radio programme Silver Memories was first aired in Brisbane, Australia in April 2008. The programme is specifically designed to address social isolation and loneliness in older people by broadcasting primarily music, and serials and other programmes relevant to the 1920s to 1950s, the period when older people grew up. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of the programme upon older listeners' mood, quality of life (QOL) and self-reported loneliness. A total of 113 community-dwelling persons and residents of residential care facilities aged 60 years and older participated in a 3 month evaluation of Silver Memories. They were asked to listen to the programme daily and baseline and follow-up measures of depression, QOL and loneliness were obtained. The results showed a statistically significant improvement in measures of depression and QOL but there was no change in the measure of loneliness. The results did not vary by living situation (community vs. residential care), whether the participant was lonely or not lonely, socially isolated or not isolated, or whether there had been any important changes in the participant's health or social circumstances throughout the evaluation. The article concludes that Silver Memories is an inexpensive, readily implemented intervention that improves the QOL and mood of older people.
What happens to quality in integrated homecare? A 15-year follow-up study
- Authors:
- PALJARVI Soili, et al
- Journal article citation:
- International Journal of Integrated Care, 11(2), 2011, Online only
- Publisher:
- International Foundation for Integrated Care
A case study of a joint homecare unit in Finland, created following the merger of home healthcare and home help services in 1994 - 1995, is used to explore the impact of structural integration on home care quality. The case study included a before–after comparison with baseline and four follow-up measurements during 1994–2009, using interviews with clients (n=66–84) and postal inquiries to relatives (n=73–78) and staff (n=68–136). Home care quality was analysed in three domains: sufficiency of care; responsiveness of care; and guiding, counselling and informing clients. Despite the organisational reform involving extensive mergers of health and social care organisations and cuts in staff and service provision, homecare quality remained at almost the same level throughout the 15-year follow-up. According to the clients, it even slightly improved in some homecare areas. The results show that despite the structural integration and cuts in staff and service provision, the quality of homecare remained at a good level. The results suggest that structural integration had a positive impact on homecare quality. To provide firmer evidence, the authors call for additional research with a randomised comparison design. (Edited publisher abstract)