|
Dr.
Shelly Liken, PI
A major goal of care for individuals
with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is to allow them to live in
the least restrictive, safest, and most comfortable
environment as long as possible. For most individuals
with AD, home is the best place to receive care during most of
the disease course. One of the most difficult challenges
for family caregivers (CG) is knowing when to relinquish care,
making the decision to institutionalize a relative with AD a
critical caregiving event. Family CG usually place their
relative in an assisted living facility (ALF) or skilled
nursing facility (SNF) as a last resort. Preliminary
work indicates that almost half of moves to a facility occur
during a crisis. Although risks for institutionalization
have been studied, risks for unplanned moves have not been
addressed. The unplanned move is costly, financially and
emotionally for CG. The purpose of this pilot study is
to develop an instrument to identify precipitants to unplanned
or emergency moves to an ALF or SNF. Categories of
stressors described in Neuman’s System Model will guide item
categorization for instrument development. The
instrument will be tested with CG who have placed their
relative in an ALF or SNF in the prior six months. Results of this study will enable the investigator to identify
risks for unplanned moves in order to design interventions
that will facilitate a smooth transition to an ALF or SNF.
Planned moves will also prevent or decrease physical and
psychological risk for both the CG and the individual with AD
as well as decrease financial costs.
Back to Pilot Studies
|
