The Saskatchewan Caregiver Experience Study: Support Priorities of Caregivers of Older Adults.
Steven Hall, Noelle Rohatinsky, Lorraine Holtslander and 1 others
PMID 39129341WHAT IT FOUND
Caregivers of older adults in Saskatchewan prioritized immediate practical help, especially homecare and long-term care access, plus being listened to by healthcare teams.
They also wanted clearer information, respite, and workplace and policy supports.
Key findings
01Help when needed was the top support priority, including homecare, long-term care access, information, and assistance with daily tasks.
02Caregivers valued healthcare professionals who gave individualized, compassionate care and treated them as equal members of the care team.
03Caregivers recognized the value of physical therapists, occupational therapists, social workers, and dietitians, but reported difficulty accessing them, especially in the community.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTsWhat it means for OTsWhat 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
No sex or gender data were collected. Participants were voluntary online self-selected caregivers, so those with stronger opinions may be overrepresented. The online survey may have excluded caregivers without internet access or confidence using digital platforms. The paper does not state how many of the 355 respondents answered the support-priority question. It describes caregivers' priorities in Saskatchewan and tests no intervention, so it cannot show whether any support service works.
Declared interests
A small fund from the Saskatoon Council on Aging was used for a paid Facebook advertisement. No other funding or conflict-of-interest declaration is included in the supplied text.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read these priorities as evidence that any specific caregiver support intervention works. This qualitative survey reports what caregivers said they need, not outcomes from a tested programme.