Exploring the role of a facilitator in supporting family carers when embedding the iSupport for Dementia programme in care services: A qualitative study.
Ying Yu, Sarah C Hunter, Lily Xiao and 10 others
PMID 37477168WHAT IT FOUND
Carers and dementia service staff perceived a designated facilitator as most needed at diagnosis, during daily care, and when hospital or respite transitions occur, to help navigate services, manage medication and changed behaviour, and link carers to support.
Key findings
01Carers and staff perceived that a designated facilitator could address unmet needs at the time of dementia diagnosis.
02Participants perceived that a facilitator could support carers with changed behaviour, medication review and mental health needs during everyday dementia care.
03During transition moments, participants saw a facilitator as a way to link carers to available services and reduce stress during hospital admission.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
Read the rest of this summary
You get three full summaries a month, free, and we do not ask for a card. Search, the TL;DRs and your library stay unlimited either way.
What it does not show
The study reports stakeholder perceptions about a role, not patient or carer outcomes, and it did not test whether the facilitator works. It was conducted in Australia's health and social care system, so findings may not transfer to other systems. Participants were fluent in English and no carers of Aboriginal Australians took part, so views may not represent Australia's diverse population. Some workshops and interviews were online or by phone, which may have missed non-verbal cues. Longer caregiving histories could have introduced recall bias about earlier events. Only 19 of the 30 carers and 36 of the 45 professionals provided demographic information.
Declared interests
Funded by the Australian Government through NHMRC/Medical Research Future Fund and NHMRC/Dementia Centre for Research Collaboration grants. Authors reported no competing interests.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude the facilitator role improves dementia care or reduces carer stress. This Phase 1 co-design study reports stakeholder perceptions and did not test the intervention.