Interventions for caregivers of older adults with dementia living in the community: A rapid review

Abstract

AbstractBackgroundThis rapid review examined the literature regarding interventions, including volunteer navigation, that have been implemented to address the needs of caregivers of older adults with dementia living in the community. It is essential to understand the efficacy of interventions in meeting the needs of family and friend caregivers to ensure that the development of new interventions is evidence‐based, and will contribute to positive impacts for caregivers.MethodMEDLINE, CINHAL and EMBASE databases were searched. There is a robust body of empirical literature addressing the needs of caregivers, therefore, the rapid review focused on evidence from systematic reviews. Research question: “What is the empirical evidence on interventions (including navigation) to meet the needs of family caregivers of persons living with dementia?”. 19 systematic reviews were included for review.Result1) Psychosocial, psychoeducational, social support and multicomponent interventions consistently had positive impacts on a variety of outcomes. 2) Multicomponent interventions that are tailored to the needs of individual caregivers are the most effective interventions and should be utilized in future program development. 3) The most effective combination of interventions that should be incorporated into multicomponent interventions is unknown and should be investigated further.ConclusionPsychoeducational, psychosocial, social support, and multicomponent interventions consistently result in positive impacts on a variety of outcomes. However, the most impactful combination of specific interventions that should be utilized in multicomponent interventions is unclear. Despite this uncertainty, the repeated success of psychoeducational, psychosocial and social support interventions suggests that these components should be utilized in conjunction with one another in multicomponent interventions that are tailored to the needs of individuals. In order to accomplish this, future programs need to provide adequate time for caregivers and intervention administrators to develop meaningful relationships in which the caregiver feels comfortable to share their individual needs, and the administrator can truly understand them. Nav‐CARE may serve as a program that can incorporate psychosocial, psychoeducational and social support aspects of interventions resulting in positive impacts on caregivers. Improved programs that meet the needs of caregivers will adequately support caregivers, PWD and reduce financial costs to our healthcare system.