Caregivers. Medical search

Persons who provide care to those who need supervision or assistance in illness or disability. They may provide the care in the home, in a hospital, or in an institution. Although caregivers include trained medical, nursing, and other health personnel, the concept also refers to parents, spouses, or other family members, friends, members of the clergy, teachers, social workers, fellow patients.

Nursing care given to an individual in the home. The care may be provided by a family member or a friend. Home nursing as care by a non-professional is differentiated from HOME CARE SERVICES provided by professionals: visiting nurse, home health agencies, hospital, or other organized community group.

The personal cost of acute or chronic disease. The cost to the patient may be an economic, social, or psychological cost or personal loss to self, family, or immediate community. The cost of illness may be reflected in absenteeism, productivity, response to treatment, peace of mind, or QUALITY OF LIFE. It differs from HEALTH CARE COSTS, meaning the societal cost of providing services related to the delivery of health care, rather than personal impact on individuals.

Stress wherein emotional factors predominate.

An acquired organic mental disorder with loss of intellectual abilities of sufficient severity to interfere with social or occupational functioning. The dysfunction is multifaceted and involves memory, behavior, personality, judgment, attention, spatial relations, language, abstract thought, and other executive functions. The intellectual decline is usually progressive, and initially spares the level of consciousness.

A state of harmony between internal needs and external demands and the processes used in achieving this condition. (From APA Thesaurus of Psychological Index Terms, 8th ed)

A social group consisting of parents or parent substitutes and children.

Support systems that provide assistance and encouragement to individuals with physical or emotional disabilities in order that they may better cope. Informal social support is usually provided by friends, relatives, or peers, while formal assistance is provided by churches, groups, etc.

Patient care provided in the home or institution intermittently in order to provide temporary relief to the family home care giver.

Predetermined sets of questions used to collect data - clinical data, social status, occupational group, etc. The term is often applied to a self-completed survey instrument.

A generic concept reflecting concern with the modification and enhancement of life attributes, e.g., physical, political, moral and social environment; the overall condition of a human life.

Community health and NURSING SERVICES providing coordinated multiple services to the patient at the patient's homes. These home-care services are provided by a visiting nurse, home health agencies, HOSPITALS, or organized community groups using professional staff for care delivery. It differs from HOME NURSING which is provided by non-professionals.

Specialized health care, supportive in nature, provided to a dying person. A holistic approach is often taken, providing patients and their families with legal, financial, emotional, or spiritual counseling in addition to meeting patients' immediate physical needs. Care may be provided in the home, in the hospital, in specialized facilities (HOSPICES), or in specially designated areas of long-term care facilities. The concept also includes bereavement care for the family. (From Dictionary of Health Services Management, 2d ed)

Married persons, i.e., husbands and wives, or partners. Domestic partners, or spousal equivalents, are two adults who have chosen to share their lives in an intimate and committed relationship, reside together, and share a mutual obligation of support for the basic necessities of life.

Depressive states usually of moderate intensity in contrast with major depression present in neurotic and psychotic disorders.

Research carried out by nurses concerning techniques and methods to implement projects and to document information, including methods of interviewing patients, collecting data, and forming inferences. The concept includes exploration of methodological issues such as human subjectivity and human experience.

Child who has lost both parents through death or desertion.

Behavioral, psychological, and social relations among various members of the nuclear family and the extended family.

The interactions between the professional person and the family.

The caring for individuals in institutions and their adaptation to routines characteristic of the institutional environment, and/or their loss of adaptation to life outside the institution.

Conceptual response of the person to the various aspects of death, which are based on individual psychosocial and cultural experience.

Conversations with an individual or individuals held in order to obtain information about their background and other personal biographical data, their attitudes and opinions, etc. It includes school admission or job interviews.

Medical and nursing care of patients in the terminal stage of an illness.

Persons with an incurable or irreversible illness at the end stage that will result in death within a short time. (From O'Leary et al., Lexikon: Dictionary of Health Care Terms, Organizations, and Acronyms for the Era of Reform, 1994, p780)

Studies in which the presence or absence of disease or other health-related variables are determined in each member of the study population or in a representative sample at one particular time. This contrasts with LONGITUDINAL STUDIES which are followed over a period of time.

Facilities or services which are especially devoted to providing palliative and supportive care to the patient with a terminal illness and to the patient's family.

The performance of the basic activities of self care, such as dressing, ambulation, or eating.

Persons functioning as natural, adoptive, or substitute parents. The heading includes the concept of parenthood as well as preparation for becoming a parent.

Communications via an interactive conference between two or more participants at different sites, using computer networks (COMPUTER COMMUNICATION NETWORKS) or other telecommunication links to transmit audio, video, and data.

The individual's experience of a sense of fulfillment of a need or want and the quality or state of being satisfied.

A degenerative disease of the BRAIN characterized by the insidious onset of DEMENTIA. Impairment of MEMORY, judgment, attention span, and problem solving skills are followed by severe APRAXIAS and a global loss of cognitive abilities. The condition primarily occurs after age 60, and is marked pathologically by severe cortical atrophy and the triad of SENILE PLAQUES; NEUROFIBRILLARY TANGLES; and NEUROPIL THREADS. (From Adams et al., Principles of Neurology, 6th ed, pp1049-57)

Any type of research that employs nonnumeric information to explore individual or group characteristics, producing findings not arrived at by statistical procedures or other quantitative means. (Qualitative Inquiry: A Dictionary of Terms Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, 1997)

A nursing specialty concerned with the care provided to cancer patients. It includes aspects of family functioning through education of both patient and family.

A nursing specialty involved in the diagnosis and treatment of human responses of individuals and groups to actual or potential health problems with the characteristics of altered functional ability and altered life-style.

Hospitals controlled by agencies and departments of the state government.

Normal, appropriate sorrowful response to an immediate cause. It is self-limiting and gradually subsides within a reasonable time.

The provision of care involving the nursing process, to families and family members in health and illness situations. From Lippincott Manual of Nursing Practice. 6th ed.

Care alleviating symptoms without curing the underlying disease. (Stedman, 25th ed)

Refers to the whole process of grieving and mourning and is associated with a deep sense of loss and sadness.

The level of health of the individual, group, or population as subjectively assessed by the individual or by more objective measures.

Social and economic factors that characterize the individual or group within the social structure.

The exchange or transmission of ideas, attitudes, or beliefs between individuals or groups.

A learning situation involving more than one alternative from which a selection is made in order to attain a specific goal.

Care of CHILDREN in the home or in an institution.

Facilities which provide nursing supervision and limited medical care to persons who do not require hospitalization.

Philosophy based on the analysis of the individual's existence in the world which holds that human existence cannot be completely described in scientific terms. Existentialism also stresses the freedom and responsibility of the individual as well as the uniqueness of religious and ethical experiences and the analysis of subjective phenomena such as anxiety, guilt, and suffering. (APA, Thesaurus of Psychological Index Terms, 8th ed.)

Nursing care of the aged patient given in the home, the hospital, or special institutions such as nursing homes, psychiatric institutions, etc.

New abnormal growth of tissue. Malignant neoplasms show a greater degree of anaplasia and have the properties of invasion and metastasis, compared to benign neoplasms.

The use of art as an adjunctive therapy in the treatment of neurological, mental, or behavioral disorders.

The health status of the family as a unit including the impact of the health of one member of the family on the family as a unit and on individual family members; also, the impact of family organization or disorganization on the health status of its members.

Individuals participating in the health care system for the purpose of receiving therapeutic, diagnostic, or preventive procedures.

Knowledge, attitudes, and associated behaviors which pertain to health-related topics such as PATHOLOGIC PROCESSES or diseases, their prevention, and treatment. This term refers to non-health workers and health workers (HEALTH PERSONNEL).

The interactions between parent and child.

Moving or repositioning patients within their beds, from bed to bed, bed to chair, or otherwise from one posture or surface to another.

Studies in which variables relating to an individual or group of individuals are assessed over a period of time.

Systematic identification of a population's needs or the assessment of individuals to determine the proper level of services needed.

Public attitudes toward health, disease, and the medical care system.

Health services required by a population or community as well as the health services that the population or community is able and willing to pay for.

Those unable to leave home without exceptional effort and support; patients (in this condition) who are provided with or are eligible for home health services, including medical treatment and personal care. Persons are considered homebound even if they may be infrequently and briefly absent from home if these absences do not indicate an ability to receive health care in a professional's office or health care facility. (From Facts on File Dictionary of Health Care Management, 1988, p309)

The interactions between individuals of different generations. These interactions include communication, caring, accountability, loyalty, and even conflict between related or non-related individuals.

Organizations which provide an environment encouraging social interactions through group activities or individual relationships especially for the purpose of rehabilitating or supporting patients, individuals with common health problems, or the elderly. They include therapeutic social clubs.

Feeling or emotion of dread, apprehension, and impending disaster but not disabling as with ANXIETY DISORDERS.

A form of group psychotherapy. It involves treatment of more than one member of the family simultaneously in the same session.

The reciprocal interaction of two or more persons.

Assessment of psychological variables by the application of mathematical procedures.

The state wherein the person is well adjusted.

Older adults or aged individuals who are lacking in general strength and are unusually susceptible to disease or to other infirmity.

Small-scale tests of methods and procedures to be used on a larger scale if the pilot study demonstrates that these methods and procedures can work.

Placing of the hands of the healer upon the person to be cured with the intent of spiritual energetic healing.

Care over an extended period, usually for a chronic condition or disability, requiring periodic, intermittent, or continuous care.

Theoretical models simulating behavior or activities in nursing, including nursing care, management and economics, theory, assessment, research, and education. Some examples of these models include Orem Self-Care Model, Roy Adaptation Model, and Rogers Life Process Model.

Standardized procedures utilizing rating scales or interview schedules carried out by health personnel for evaluating the degree of mental illness.

Simultaneous communication of conflicting messages in which the response to either message evokes rejection or disapproval. (APA, Thesaurus of Psychological Index Terms, 8th ed.)

Interactions between health personnel and patients.

Families who care for neglected children or patients unable to care for themselves.

Persons with physical or mental disabilities that affect or limit their activities of daily living and that may require special accommodations.

Organized efforts by communities or organizations to improve the health and well-being of the child.

Payment for a service or for a commodity such as a body part.

The expected and characteristic pattern of behavior exhibited by an individual as a member of a particular social group.

Care of patients by a multidisciplinary team usually organized under the leadership of a physician; each member of the team has specific responsibilities and the whole team contributes to the care of the patient.

A method of data collection and a QUALITATIVE RESEARCH tool in which a small group of individuals are brought together and allowed to interact in a discussion of their opinions about topics, issues, or questions.

The training or bringing-up of children by parents or parent-substitutes. It is used also for child rearing practices in different societies, at different economic levels, in different ethnic groups, etc. It differs from PARENTING in that in child rearing the emphasis is on the act of training or bringing up the child and the interaction between the parent and child, while parenting emphasizes the responsibility and qualities of exemplary behavior of the parent.

The tendency of an individual or individuals to rely on others for advice, guidance, or support.

Levels within a diagnostic group which are established by various measurement criteria applied to the seriousness of a patient's disorder.

Education that increases the awareness and favorably influences the attitudes and knowledge relating to the improvement of health on a personal or community basis.

The teaching or training of patients concerning their own health needs.

Female parents, human or animal.

A person authorized to decide or act for another person, for example, a person having durable power of attorney.

Caregiver behaviors and resources influence child height-for-age in rural Chad. (1/2862)

The purpose of this study was to identify caregiver characteristics that influence child nutritional status in rural Chad, when controlling for socioeconomic factors. Variables were classified according to the categories of a UNICEF model of care: caregiving behaviors, household food security, food and economic resources and resources for care and health resources. Sixty-four households with 98 children from ages 12 to 71 mo were part of this study. Caregivers were interviewed to collect information on number of pregnancies, child feeding and health practices, influence on decisions regarding child health and feeding, overall satisfaction with life, social support, workload, income, use of income, and household food expenditures and consumption. Household heads were questioned about household food production and other economic resources. Caregiver and household variables were classified as two sets of variables, and separate regression models were run for each of the two sets. Significant predictors of height-for-age were then combined in the same regression model. Caregiver influence on child-feeding decisions, level of satisfaction with life, willingness to seek advice during child illnesses, and the number of individuals available to assist with domestic tasks were the caregiver factors associated with children's height-for-age. Socioeconomic factors associated with children's height-for-age were the amount of harvested cereals, the sources of household income and the household being monogamous. When the caregiver and household socioeconomic factors were combined in the same model, they explained 54% of the variance in children's height-for-age, and their regression coefficients did not change or only slightly increased, except for caregiver's propensity to seek advice during child illnesses, which was no longer significant. These results indicate that caregiver characteristics influence children's nutritional status, even while controlling for the socioeconomic status of the household. (+info)

The economic value of informal caregiving. (2/2862)

This study explores the current market value of the care provided by unpaid family members and friends to ill and disabled adults. Using large, national data sets we estimate that the national economic value of informal caregiving was $196 billion in 1997. This figure dwarfs national spending for formal home health care ($32 billion) and nursing home care ($83 billion). Estimates for five states also are presented. This study broadens the issue of informal caregiving from the micro level, where individual caregivers attempt to cope with the stresses and responsibilities of caregiving, to the macro level of the health care system, which must find more effective ways to support family caregivers. (+info)

Involving consumers in assessing service quality: benefits of using a qualitative approach. (3/2862)

Although important to users, practice standards rarely incorporate users' views of care provided. These views are a valuable source of information, even though there are limits to their value. To improve the standards of care in a 20 bed hospital elderly care unit caring for acute medical conditions a qualitative approach was used. Patients' and carers' perceptions of care and problems with the process of care in the unit were elicited with a specially designed semistructured interview schedule in 83 separate tape recorded interviews with a research nurse in patients' homes. In all, 50 patients and 35 carers were interviewed between 6 June 1991 and 28 May 1992. Of the 50 patients, 33 were female; seven patients were aged less than 80 years, 16, 80-85; 21, 86-90; and six over 90. A total of 16 patients lived with spouses or other carers, two with non-carers, and 32 lived alone, 18 of whom received informal care. Content analysis of the interviews disclosed patients' and carers' general satisfaction with individualised professional care and planning of follow up services on discharge but dissatisfaction in the lack of information about and involvement in treatment and care and about specific staff notes. These findings have prompted remedial changes in clinical practice in the unit; they have also formed the structure of a criterion based survey of practice. The authors conclude that the qualitative approach suited elderly users and also provided the basis for the findings to be incorporated into a continuous audit cycle through a process of feedback and standard setting. (+info)

Correlates of child care providers' interpretation of pediatric AIDS: implications for education and training. (4/2862)

A total of 212 child care providers residing in a southeastern state were surveyed about their knowledge and attitudes toward AIDS and child care policies. Providers' feeling about caring for an HIV-infected child, rather than their perceived knowledge of AIDS, were most consistently correlated with their factual knowledge and positive attitudes toward AIDS. These results suggest that providers may pay more attention to AIDS information and become more accepting of recommended child care policies when they are able to personalize AIDS within the context of their work with young children. Implications for education are discussed within the context of the Health Belief Model. (+info)

Longer term quality of life and outcome in stroke patients: is the Barthel index alone an adequate measure of outcome? (5/2862)

OBJECTIVES: To consider whether the Barthel Index alone provides sufficient information about the long term outcome of stroke. DESIGN: Cross sectional follow up study with a structured interview questionnaire and measures of impairment, disability, handicap, and general health. The scales used were the hospital anxiety and depression scale, mini mental state examination, Barthel index, modified Rankin scale, London handicap scale, Frenchay activities index, SF36, Nottingham health profile, life satisfaction index, and the caregiver strain index. SETTING: South east London. SUBJECTS: People, and their identified carers, resident in south east London in 1989-90 when they had their first in a life-time stroke aged under 75 years. INTERVENTIONS: Observational study. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Comparison and correlation of the individual Barthel index scores with the scores on other outcome measures. RESULTS: One hundred and twenty three (42%) people were known to be alive, of whom 106 (86%) were interviewed. The median age was 71 years (range 34-79). The mean interval between the stroke and follow up was 4.9 years. The rank correlation coefficients between the Barthel and the different dimensions of the SF36 ranged from r = 0.217 (with the role emotional dimension) to r = 0.810 (with the physical functioning dimension); with the Nottingham health profile the range was r = -0.189 (with the sleep dimension, NS) to r = -0.840 (with the physical mobility dimension); with the hospital and anxiety scale depression component the coefficient was r = -0.563, with the life satisfaction index r = 0.361, with the London handicap scale r = 0.726 and with the Frenchay activities index r = 0.826. CONCLUSIONS: The place of the Barthel index as the standard outcome measure for populations of stroke patients is still justified for long term follow up, and may be a proxy for different outcome measures intended for the assessment of other domains. (+info)

Use of the GDS-15 geriatric depression scale as a screening instrument for depressive symptomatology in patients with Parkinson's disease and their carers in the community. (6/2862)

OBJECTIVES: To assess the level of depressive symptomatology in a community based group of patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) and their carers and to investigate the patient characteristics that might predict carer distress. METHODS: The GDS-15 geriatric depression scale was used to measure self-rated depressive symptoms in a group of 132 subjects with clinically probable PD randomly selected from a community-based disease register. Disease severity was assessed by the Webster scale and cognitive function by the CAMCOG test. Carers of the patients, who in this study were all spouses, were also asked to complete the GDS-15. RESULTS: A total of 64% of our group of patients and 34% of carers scored within the 'depressed' range on the GDS-15. Patients with high levels of depressive symptoms tended to have more severe disease, disease of longer duration and more impaired cognitive function. The GDS score of the carer was best predicted by the GDS score of the patient being cared for. Less than 10% of patients and carers were being treated with antidepressant medication. CONCLUSIONS: This community-based study confirms the high level of depressive symptoms in PD suggested by hospital- and clinic-based studies. Depression in patients appears to be related to disease severity and cognitive impairment. An important determinant of carer distress and mood disorder, as reflected by the GDS score, appears to be the level of depression expressed by the patient being cared for. Despite high levels of depressive symptoms in both patients and carers, very few subjects were in receipt of antidepressant drug therapy. (+info)

A survey of attitudes and knowledge of geriatricians to driving in elderly patients. (7/2862)

OBJECTIVE: To assess the attitudes of consultant members of the British Geriatrics Society to elderly patients driving motor vehicles. DESIGN: An anonymous postal survey assessing knowledge and attitudes to driving in elderly people. A standardized questionnaire was used and five case histories were offered for interpretation. SETTING: The study was co-ordinated from a teaching hospital. SUBJECTS: The 709 consultant members of the British Geriatrics Society. Four hundred and eighteen responses were obtained, which represents a 59% response rate. RESULTS: 275 Respondents (68%) correctly realised that a person aged 70 had a duty to inform the Driving and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA) about their eligibility to drive. The remainder did not. Most (315; 75%) believed that the overall responsibility for informing the DVLA was with the patient. If a patient was incapable of understanding advice on driving because of advanced dementia, 346 (83%) would breach patient confidentiality and inform the authority directly. Where a patient was fully capable of understanding medical advice but ignored it, 72% of geriatricians would have legitimately breached patient confidentiality and informed the DVLA. Most geriatricians (88%) saw their main role as one of providing advice on driving to patients and their families. Enforcing DVLA regulations was not seen as an appropriate function, unless the patient was a danger to themselves or other drivers. CONCLUSIONS: There is a wide variation in knowledge of driving regulations and attitudes to driving in elderly patients. Better education of geriatricians should improve awareness of when elderly drivers can safely continue to drive. (+info)

Disagreement in patient and carer assessment of functional abilities after stroke. (8/2862)

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: The aims of this study were to describe differences between functional ability assessments made by stroke patients and their informal carers and to investigate the psychological associates of the difference in assessments. METHODS: A prospective design was used, with repeated assessments of function, mood, and carer strain. Thirty hospital stroke patients and their main carer were interviewed 3 times: within 1 month of stroke, 1 month after discharge, and 6 months after discharge. RESULTS: There were significant differences between patient and carer assessments at all 3 time points, with patient self-assessment less disabled than carer assessment (at least P<0.02). The disagreement in assessment was unrelated to patient or carer mood (P>0.05) but greater disagreement was associated with greater carer strain (P<0.05). The source of the disagreement in functional ability assessment remains unclear. CONCLUSIONS: The method of assessment affects the rating of functional abilities after stroke. Carer strain is potentially increased when the patient or carer makes an unrealistic assessment of the patient's level of independence. (+info)

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