Cuidados paliativos aplicados em idosos no domicílio / Palliative care applied to the elderly at home / Cuidados paliativos aplicados a ancianos en el hogar

Objetivo: analisar evidências científicas sobre a utilização de cuidados paliativos aplicados em idosos no domicílio. Métodos: trata-se de uma revisão sistemática de literatura, realizada em janeiro de 2020, utilizando os descritores: "cuidados paliativos/Paliative care" AND "saúde do idoso/heal thof the elderly" AND "assistência domiciliar/home care". Resultados: foram selecionados sete artigos, que emergiram as categorias: Assistência domiciliar adaptada as necessidades dos pacientes de acordo com seus recursos disponíveis; Ampliação dos resultados através do empoderamento e autonomia na participação do cuidado familiar no domicílio; Os cuidados paliativos contribuem para a melhoria dos fatores psicológicos e emocionais, enfrentamento positivo e aceitação do tratamento. Conclusão: a literatura traz uma aplicabilidade geral sem estudos que tratem de forma específica a situação do idoso. Demonstra também um aumento deliberado da necessidade de assistência permanente a estas pessoas com doenças incuráveis, necessitando de apoio holístico

Objective: to analyze scientific evidence on the use of palliative care applied to elderly people at home. Methods: this is a systematic literature review, conducted in January 2020, using the descriptors: "palliative care / Palliative care" AND "health of the elderly / heal thof the elderly" AND "home care / home care". Results: seven articles were selected, which emerged in the categories: Home care adapted to the needs of patients according to their available resources; Expansion of results through empowerment and autonomy in the participation of family care at home; Palliative care contributes to the improvement of psychological and emotional factors, positive coping and treatment acceptance. Conclusion: the literature has a general applicability without studies that specifically address the situation of the elderly. It also demonstrates a delibeate increase in the need for permanent assistance to these people with incurable diseases, requiring holistic support

Objetivo: analizar la evidencia científica sobre el uso de cuidados paliativos aplicados a personas mayores en el hogar. Métodos: esta es una revisión sistemática de la literatura, realizada en enero de 2020, utilizando los descriptores: "cuidados paliativos / cuidados paliativos" Y "salud de los ancianos / curar a los ancianos" Y "cuidado en el hogar / cuidado en el hogar". Resultados: se seleccionaron siete artículos, que surgieron en las categorías: Atención domiciliaria adaptada a las necesidades de los pacientes de acuerdo con sus recursos disponibles; Expansión de resultados a través del empoderamiento y la autonomía en la participación del cuidado familiar en el hogar; Los cuidados paliativos contribuyen a la mejora de los factores psicológicos y emocionales, el afrontamiento positivo y la aceptación del tratamiento. Conclusión: la literatura tiene una aplicabilidad general sin estudios que aborden específicamente la situación de las personas mayores. También demuestra un aumento deliberado en la necesidad de asistencia permanente a estas personas con enfermedades incurables, que requieren un apoyo integral

Changes in the balance between formal and informal care supply in England between 2001 and 2011: evidence from census data.

Informal care plays a crucial role in the social care system in England and is increasingly recognised as a cornerstone of future sustainability of the long-term care (LTC) system. This paper explores the variation in informal care provision over time, and in particular, whether the considerable reduction in publicly-funded formal LTC after 2008 had an impact on the provision of informal care. We used small area data from the 2001 and 2011 English censuses to measure the prevalence and intensity (i.e. the number of hours of informal care provided) of informal care in the population. We controlled for changes in age structure, health, deprivation, income, employment and education. The effects of the change in formal social care provision on informal care were analysed through instrumental variable models to account for the well-known endogeneity. We found that informal care provision had increased over the period, particularly among high-intensity carers (20+ hours per week). We also found that the reduction in publicly-funded formal care provision was associated with significant increases in high-intensity (20+ hours per week) informal care provision, suggesting a substitutive relationship between formal and informal care of that intensity in the English system.

Development and Psychometrics Test of Home Environment Assessment Checklist for Community-Dwelling Older Adults with Dementia.

BACKGROUND: Home environment is a core domain in the care of community-dwelling older adults with dementia, but there is no suitable instrument to measure it in China. OBJECTIVE: To develop and psychometrically test the home environment assessment checklist for community-dwelling older adults with dementia. METHODS: A three-step process was performed to develop and test this instrument: 1) based on the evidence-based theory, the checklist was summarized as the main points of evidence from living environment settings among older adults with dementia, 2) the draft tool was assigned to an iterative process of evaluation by a panel of examiners consisting of experts from treatment, nursing and caring, people with dementia and their caregivers, 3) inter-rater reliability and internal consistency were calculated with a sample of 348 caregivers of the older adults with dementia. RESULTS: The HEAC consisted of 71 items in domains addressing safety, stability and familiarity, visual cues, and sensory stimulation. Psychometric evaluation showed that this tool demonstrated sound reliability and validity. Content validity was 0.969 which was established by a panel of experts (n = 10). Inter-rater reliability of two researchers was 0.978, and 0.848 for researchers and caregivers. Test-retest reliability was excellent (ICC = 0.757-0.877) in community-dwelling older adults with dementia 2 week apart. CONCLUSION: The HEAC is a new tool to help collect the reliable information on the barriers and facilitators of home environment for community-dwelling older adults with dementia and to precipitate the home modification process to improve the quality of care for people with dementia and their caregivers in daily life.

Female Pakistani carers' views on future formal and informal care for their older relatives in Norway.

BACKGROUND: The aging of Pakistani immigrants in Norway raises questions related to their increased need for care and help from relatives, as well as those concerning what future formal and informal care and healthcare accessibility for older immigrants may look like. The hidden nature of family caregiving means that the circumstances of carers, their views and their dilemmas related to future care are largely invisible. In this study, we explored female Pakistani carers' views of future care and healthcare accessibility for their older relatives in Norway. METHODS: Our data included interviews with family carers between the ages of 23 and 40 years old, living in Oslo, Norway. We recruited ten family carers, out of which eight were daughters and two were daughters-in-law. Interviews were conducted by the first author in Urdu or English and were recorded and transcribed verbatim. RESULTS: Our findings revealed several factors that influenced participants' perceptions about formal and informal caregiving, which can be organised into the following themes: 1) caring for family in Norway as in Pakistan, 2) worries about being 'dropped off' at a care home, 3) concerns about being cared for by outsiders, 4) questions about what other people might say and 5) adhering to society's expectations of a 'good' carer. CONCLUSION: Family carers' traditional views of filial piety do not entirely determine the use of or access to healthcare services of their older relatives. There is a need to develop culturally sensitive healthcare systems so that immigrant families and their carers have more options in choosing care in old age, which in turn will ease their families' care burden. Healthcare professionals and policymakers should not assume that immigrant families will take care of their own older members but should instead secure adequate support for older immigrants and their family carers.

Cuidados ao final da vida no domicílio: considerações sobre o Brasil e a França / Cuidado al final de la vida a domicilio: consideraciones sobre Brasil y Francia / End-of-life care at home: considerations about Brazil and France

Ensaio teórico, oriundo de reflexões tecidas em duas pesquisas, realizadas entre 2012 e 2017. Tem-se como objetivo discutir a inserção do domicílio como um espaço de cuidado nas políticas públicas para o final da vida, no Brasil e na França. Para tal, foi realizada leitura interessada de documentos que normatizam a organização dos serviços que atendem pessoas em cuidados paliativos, de ambos os países. Os documentos que respaldaram a análise foram: no contexto brasileiro, a Portaria n° 825, de 25 de abril de 2016, que redefine a atenção domiciliar no âmbito do sistema de saúde; e, no cenário francês, o Plano Trienal de Cuidados Paliativos (2015-2018). Para nortear as análises recorreu-se a autores vinculados à Antropologia Social e aos Estudos Culturais. Vislumbra-se que a partir dos anos 2000 o domicílio passa a ser elemento central para a efetivação das políticas públicas de saúde, especialmente aquelas que visam organizar o atendimento e o cuidado às pessoas com doenças crônicas e em cuidados paliativos. Trata-se de uma forma menos onerosa em termos econômicos para o Estado e que tende a acolher as expectativas de pacientes e familiares na busca do conforto e de formas menos dolorosas de enfrentar o final da vida

Ensayo teórico, oriundo de reflexiones desarrolladas en dos investigaciones que se llevaron a cabo entre 2012 y 2017. El objetivo es discutir la inserción del domicilio como un espacio de cuidado en las políticas públicas para el final de la vida, en Brasil y en Francia. A tal fin, se hizo la lectura interesada de documentos que normalizan la organización de los servicios que atienden a personas en cuidados paliativos de ambos países. Los documentos que sustentaron el análisis fueron: en el contexto brasileño, la Ordenanza no. 825, del 25 de abril de 2016, que redefine la atención domiciliaria en el ámbito del sistema de salud; y, en el escenario francés, el Plan Trienal de Cuidados Paliativos (2015-2018). Los análisis tuvieron sustentación en autores de la Antropología Social y de los Estudios Culturales. A partir de los años 2000 el domicilio se convierte en el elemento central para el cumplimiento de las políticas públicas de salud, especialmente aquellas que apuntan a organizar la atención y el cuidado a las personas con enfermedades crónicas y en cuidados paliativos. Se trata de una forma menos costosa en términos económicos para el Estado y que tiende a acoger las expectativas de pacientes y familiares en la búsqueda del confort y de formas menos dolorosas de enfrentar el final de la vida

It is a theoretical essay derived from considerations developed in two researches carried out between 2012 and 2017. The objective is discussing the insertion of the domicile as a caring space within public policies regarding the end of life in Brazil and in France. For this purpose, reading documents that regulate the organization of services addressed to persons undergoing palliative care in both countries was performed with peculiar interest. The documents that supported the analysis were: from the Brazilian context, Ordinance no. 825/2016; and, from the French scenario, the Triennial Plan for Palliative Care (2015 -2018). To guide the analysis, the source referrals were authors linked to Social Anthropology and Cultural Studies. Since the years 2000, the home became a central element for the implementation of public health policies, especially those aimed at organizing the care towards people with chronic diseases and in palliative care. It is an approach with less economic costs for the State while it tends to meet the expectations of patients and families in the search for comfort and less painful ways to face the end of life

Evolución del perfil de los cuidadores de personas de 65 y más años con discapacidad en la persistencia de un modelo de cuidado familiar / The changing profile of caregivers of persons aged 65 years and over with disabilities within a persisting family care model

Introducción. La creciente participación laboral femenina compromete el actual modelo de cuidado a los mayores. El objetivo es conocer la evolución del perfil sociodemográfico de los cuidadores informales de los mayores con discapacidad, la interacción entre empleo y cuidado y la opinión de la ciudadanía sobre la responsabilidad de ese cuidado. Material y métodos. Estudio transversal de las encuestas de ámbito nacional de discapacidad realizadas en 1999 (n=3.936) y en 2008 (n=5.257), la de salud de 2011-2012 (n=439) y la de familia y género de 2012 (n=1.359). Se analizaron mediante tablas de contingencia en función del sexo y la edad. Resultados. La mitad de los cuidadores estudiados son mujeres de 45 a 64 años. Entre 1999 y 2011-2012 se concentraron cada vez más en las edades 55 a 64, entre las que se dobló la participación laboral del 20% al 40%. El aumento de los cuidadores masculinos estuvo asociado al desempleo. El trabajo de cuidado repercutió negativamente en la vida laboral, con mayor impacto entre las mujeres y entre los cuidadores de mayores con discapacidad severa. Los menos proclives a que el cuidado a los mayores se fundamentara en la familia fueron las mujeres de 45 a 54 años activas (solo el 42%) o más instruidas (40%), frente al 60% de las inactivas y el 55% de las menos formadas. Conclusiones. Las mujeres activas e instruidas son menos proclives al cuidado fundamentado en la familia, pero lo asumen independientemente de su actividad, mientras que los varones lo hacen según su disponibilidad (AU)

Introduction. The increasing participation of women in the workforce may make it difficult to sustain the current model of elderly care. The aim of this article was to determine the changing sociodemographic profile of informal elderly caregivers with disabilities, the interaction between employment and care, and the view of the public on the responsibility of that care. Materials and methods. Cross-sectional analysis of secondary data from four national surveys were used: the disability surveys held in 1999 (N=3,936) and 2008 (N=5,257), the 2011-12 National Health Survey (N=439), and the Family and Gender survey of 2012 (N=1,359). They were analysed using contingency tables based on gender and age. Results. Half of the informal caregivers were women aged 45 to 64 years. Between 1999 and 2011-12 they became more concentrated in the 55-64 age-bracket, among whom participation in the workforce doubled from 20% to 40%. Increased care for men was associated with unemployment. Care work had a negative impact on working life, with greater impact among women and those who cared for elderly people with severe disabilities. Less likely to consider that elderly care provision should rest on family are 45-54 year-old economically active women (only 42%) or those who are more educated (40%), compared to 60% of economically inactive women and 55% of less educated women. Conclusions. Economically active and educated women are less inclined to family-based care, but assume it independently of their workforce participation, whereas males do so according to their availability (AU)

Does Paid Family Leave Reduce Nursing Home Use? The California Experience.

The intent of Paid Family Leave (PFL) is to make it financially easier for individuals to take time off from paid work to care for children and seriously ill family members. Given the linkages between care provided by family members and the usage of paid services, we examine whether California's PFL program influenced nursing home utilization in California during the 1999 to 2008 period. This is the first empirical study to examine the effects of PFL on long-term care patterns. Multivariate difference-indifference estimates across alternative comparison groups provide consistent evidence that the implementation of PFL reduced the proportion of the elderly population in nursing homes by 0.5 to 0.7 percentage points. Our preferred estimate, employing an empirically-matched group of control states, finds that PFL reduced nursing home usage by about 0.65 percentage points. For California, this represents an 11 percent relative decline in elderly nursing home utilization.

Sobrecarga dos cuidadores informais de pacientes de um serviço de atenção domiciliar / Burden of homecare patients' informal caregivers

Introdução: o ato de cuidar de um familiar, embora nobre, reveste-se de risco substancial de doenças, tanto físicas quanto mentais, para aquele que cuida, o cuidador informal. Por ser um processo complexo, pode ocasionar sobrecarga deste cuidador e comprometer sua qualidade de vida. Objetivo: avaliar a sobrecarga de cuidadores informais de pacientes acompanhados em um Serviço de Atenção Domiciliar. Método: pesquisa transversal, descritiva, não experimental, de abordagem quantitativa, com a participação de 79 pacientes e seus respectivos cuidadores informais. Os dados foram coletados por meio de um instrumento de caracterização dos participantes, aplicação do Índice de Desempenho de Karnofsky e Escala de Zarit, Burden Interview, e analisados por estatística descritiva, correlação e comparação de médias. Resultados: entre os cuidadores informais, houve idade média de 55 anos, maioria do sexo feminino (93,70%), casadas (64,60%), ensino médio completo (27,80%) e do lar (19,00%). Dentre os problemas de saúde, predominaram doenças do aparelho circulatório (30,80%) e uso de anti- hipertensivos (30,38%). Identificadas presença de dor (73,42%), classificada como intensa (43,10%), e utilização de serviços públicos de saúde (93,70%), com duas consultas médicas no último ano. Evidenciou-se que 94,90% dos cuidadores informais moravam no mesmo domicílio do paciente, em média três moradores por residência; 67,10% não recebiam apoio do parceiro para o cuidado, porém 63,30% referiram colaboração de alguma pessoa. O tempo médio dedicado ao cuidar foi de 24 horas semanais, 13,90% cuidavam de outras pessoas doentes, e o grau de parentesco predominante foi filho (38,00%). Não foi identificado absenteísmo do trabalho. Entre as tarefas realizadas, teve destaque auxiliar no vestuário (89,90%) e 82,30% mencionaram sono interrompido - média de seis horas por noite. Entre os pacientes, a idade média foi 71 anos, sexo masculino (51,90%), casado/união estável (43,00%), ensino fundamental incompleto (39,20%), média de três filhos, ocupação do lar (17,70%), com residência própria (72,20%), em uso de psicotrópicos e diagnóstico predominante de doenças do sistema nervoso (58,23%). O uso de fralda mostrou-se o dispositivo predominante (72,20%). Identificou-se grau de funcionalidade do paciente, pela Escala KPS, entre 50-60 (70,88%). Com relação à avaliação da sobrecarga do cuidador informal, esta foi classificada como moderada, sendo influenciada pela idade do cuidador (p=0,016), idade do paciente (p=0,047) e utilização do dispositivo gastrostomia (p=0,011). Conclusão: os dados apontam que as equipes multiprofissionais da atenção domiciliar devem propor ações individualizadas aos cuidadores informais, bem como os serviços públicos de saúde devem dispor de espaços capazes de acolhê-los e orientá-los segundo protocolos institucionais direcionados a essa parcela da população, com vistas à redução dos níveis de sobrecarga e consequente melhora da qualidade de vida

Introduction: the act of caregiving for a relative, despite being a noble attitude, is related to a substantial risk of diseases, physical and mental, to the person who acts as an informal caregiver. Since it is a complex process, it may lead to the caregiver's burden and compromise his or her life quality. Objective: evaluate the burden of informal caregivers of patients who are assisted by a Healthcare Service. Method: cross research, descriptive, not experimental, of quantitative approach, with a group of 79 patients and their respective informal caregivers. Data was obtained by a profiling instrument of the participants, applying of Karnofsky Performance Score (KPS) and Zarit's Scale, Burden Interview, analyzed by descriptive statistics, correlation and comparing of the average results. Results: among the informal caregivers, it was verified that the average age is 55 years, are mostly women (93,70%), married (64,60%), has a high school degree (27,80%) and housewives (19,00%). Among the health diseases, prevail the circulatory system diseases (30,80%) and use of antihypertensive drugs (30,38%). It was identified the occurrence of pain (73,42%), rated as intense (43,10%), and use of public health services (93,70%), with two medical checks last year. It was possible to verify that 94,90% of the informal caregivers lived at the same home as the patient, with an average of 03 people per domicile; 67,10% did not receive the spouse's support for caregiving, but 63,30% of them reported someone else's cooperation. The observed average time of caregiving was of 24 hours per week; 13,90% gives care for other sick people and the prevailing degree of relatedness is son /daughter (38,00%). Absence from work was not identified. Among the reported tasks, helping the person to get dressed stood out (89,90%). 82,30% of the caregivers mentioned the occurrence of interruption of sleeping (82,30%) - average of six hours per night. Among the patients, it was verified that the average age is 71 years, male (51,90%), married /in a stable union (43,00%), did not complete elementary school (39,20%), has an average of 03 sons, househusbands (17,70%), owner of its own domicile place, users of psychotropic substances and prevailing diagnosis of neurological system diseases (58,23%). Use of diapers is the predominant adopted measurement (72,20%). Identified performance status (KPS) between 50-60 (70,88%). About the informal caregiver's burden, it was rated as moderate level, being influenced by the age of the caregiver (p=0,016), age of the patient (p=0,047) and use of the gastrostomy device (p=0,011). Conclusion: collected data indicates that the homecare multiprofessional teams shall propose individual actions to the informal caregivers, as well as the public health services shall have proper places to teach them according to institutional protocols directed to them, aiming to reduce the burden levels and consequently offering a better quality of life

[Admission and discharge of people with dementia- Communication from the perspective of respite care experts]. / Aufnahme und Entlassung von Menschen mit Demenz - Kommunikation aus Sicht von Experten der Kurzzeitpflege.

BACKGROUND: There is a lack of information regarding the structures and processes of communication between home and respite care at admission and discharge of people with dementia (PwD}. Considering the background,it was aimed to reconstruct information exchange between home and respite care of PwD and to identify factors which affect the quality of communication structure and processes. METHODS: Semi-structured guided telephone interviews with 16 experts out of 15 respite care facilities were conducted. A structured content analysis and a process-mapping were performed. RESULTS: Core procedures of admission and discharge of PwD were identified. There were differences and overlaps between the institutions. The differences were related to the point of time and the frequency of intake inter-"views, the checks of information completeness and the provision of information.The institutions had in common that no further coordinative steps were planned after discharge. Aneed for action was identified regarding the coordination of care and the performance of handover evaluations. CONCLUSION: A timely provision of information for respite care is crucial fo rPwD. The coordination of all stakeholders,the assignment of responsibilities in communication, and easing the burden of informal caregivers is a requirement for care continuation. Across sectorial case-management, a standard of care transition, and the evaluation of hand overs is recommended.

Los cuidados en el hogar en la posta de salud domiciliaria: Caracterización de un modelo de atención desde el análisis de tres casos. Bahía Blanca. 2014 / Os cuidados no lar no posto de saúde domiciliário:caracterização de um modelo de atenção a partir daanálise de três casos. Bahia Blanca, de 2014 / Home care in the home health post: characterization of a care model from the analysis of three cases. Bahia Blanca, 2014

La Posta de Salud Domiciliaria (Posad) es un dispositivode un modelo de atención integral y humano. Trabajaambulatoriamente, en domicilios de usuarios de una zonadelimitada. Tiene siete ejes de acción, uno es de “Controlesde Enfermedades Crónicas”, en la Posta Rural, una de lascuatro que funciona hace un año, conformado por psicólogo,promotora de salud, trabajadora social y médica de familia.Se describe un modelo de atención desde el relato de tresproyectos terapéuticos (PT) que tienen en común: lógica decuidados paliativos, abordaje interdisciplinario, genogramafuncional y encuesta social, identificación de necesidades,articulación con hospital, elaboración de PT, co-construcciónde salud con los usuarios.Posad fortalece la APS, permitiendo desarrollar PT endonde el vínculo es la herramienta principal, desafiándonosa un reposicionamiento subjetivo como trabajadores. Laintegralidad y la co- construcción definen esta propuestade cuidados, donde el poder es compartido entre usuariosy trabajadores.

The Home Health Post (Posad, for its abbreviation in Spanish) is a device from a modelof integral, human care. It works on outpatient basis, at users´ homes in a delimited area.It has seven action axes; one of them is “Control of Chronic Diseases”, in the Rural Post,one of the four which have been working for a year, consisting of a psychologist, a healthpromoter, a social worker and a family doctor.We describe a model of attention from the report of three therapeutic projects (TP)which share: logic of palliative care, interdisciplinary approach, functional genogram andsocial survey, identification of needs, articulation with hospital, TP elaboration and cobuildingof health with the users.Posad strengthens Primary Health Care, allowing the development of PT in whichthe bond is the main tool, challenging us to a subjective repositioning as workers.Comprehensiveness and co-building define this care proposal, in which power is sharedbetween users and workers.

La invisibilidad de los cuidados que realizan las mujeres / Invisibility of care that make women

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Does availability of informal care within the household impact hospitalisation?

This study assesses the effect of having informal support available at home on inpatient care use in Switzerland. The main contributions are to consider the availability of care regardless of its source, measured by multiple-adult living arrangements, and to examine this effect by type of inpatient care and source of potential support. A two-part model with region and time fixed effects is estimated to determine the impact of informal care availability on the likelihood of hospitalisation and length of stay, conditional on hospitalisation. The analysis is conducted on a sample of individuals aged 18+ from four waves of the Swiss Household Panel survey (2004-2007). Overall, availability of informal care has no impact on the likelihood of hospitalisation but does significantly reduce length of stay by 1.9 days. Available support has no effect on the shortest stays (up to 10 days), but has a significant impact on acute care stays up to 30 days and longer stays. Additionally, the effect does not significantly vary whether the source of informal support is a spouse only, a spouse and other adults, or other adults only. These results indicate that social changes leading to an expansion in the proportion of one-person households may increase future inpatient care use.

Information and communication technology for home care in the future.

AIM: This paper discusses how nurses can utilize information and communication technology (ICT) to provide care to patients with chronic diseases who are receiving home care, with particular focus on the development, basic principles, research trends, recent evidence, and future direction of telenursing and telehealth in Japan and overseas. METHODS: This review was based on a published work database search. RESULTS: Telenursing and telehealth use telecommunications technology to provide nursing care to patients living at a distance from healthcare facilities. This system is based on patient-nurse interaction and can provide timely health guidance to patients in any area of residence. Because of the increase in the rate of non-communicable diseases, the World Health Organization established and adopted a resolution (WHA58.28) to promote the e-health program, which uses ICT. This strategy, which was introduced throughout the world from the 1990s up to 2000, was used for the healthcare of patients with chronic diseases and pregnant women and was implemented through cooperation with various professionals. A telenursing practice model has been reported along with the principles involved in its implementation. CONCLUSION: Telenursing and telehealth are effective in decreasing the costs borne by patients, decreasing the number of outpatient and emergency room visits, shortening hospital stays, improving health-related quality of life, and decreasing the cost of health care.

Emerging technologies to support independent living of older adults at risk.

The aging of the population is expected to place an unprecedented strain on health care systems over the next two decades and beyond. Emerging electronic monitoring technologies provide opportunities to learn about the aging process, age-related diseases, and contribute to new, cost effective care models that preserve independence at home for older adults at risk. The goals of this article are to familiarize the reader with emerging technologies and potential applications to older adults' at-risk, review the current literature about the clinical and economic outcomes of emerging technologies, and to outline future directions and challenges.

Future directions in family and professional caregiving for the elderly.

As the population ages and the expected wave of baby boomers settles into old age, there is a pressing need to examine the people and institutions that care for elders and the ways in which the system will need to adapt during the next 5-10 years to accommodate the needs of the elderly and of their caregivers. This paper examines future directions in this field, identifying the major issues from two perspectives: family caregiving and professional caregiving. Despite extensive research on caregiving, more attention to a series of methodological issues is needed, as is more extensive evaluation of promising intervention models in community and institutional settings. Effective strategies to lower caregiver distress and improve the quality of care can be implemented in efficient ways that manage costs, but the argument for innovations must be made based on efficacy.

Cross-national differences in the prevalence and correlates of burden among older family caregivers in the World Health Organization World Mental Health (WMH) Surveys.

BACKGROUND: Current trends in population aging affect both recipients and providers of informal family caregiving, as the pool of family caregivers is shrinking while demand is increasing. Epidemiological research has not yet examined the implications of these trends for burdens experienced by aging family caregivers. Method Cross-sectional community surveys in 20 countries asked 13 892 respondents aged 50+ years about the objective (time, financial) and subjective (distress, embarrassment) burdens they experience in providing care to first-degree relatives with 12 broadly defined serious physical and mental conditions. Differential burden was examined by country income category, kinship status and type of condition. RESULTS: Among the 26.9-42.5% respondents in high-, upper-middle-, and low-/lower-middle-income countries reporting serious relative health conditions, 35.7-42.5% reported burden. Of those, 25.2-29.0% spent time and 13.5-19.4% money, while 24.4-30.6% felt distress and 6.4-21.7% embarrassment. Mean caregiving hours per week in those giving any time were 16.6-23.6 (169.9-205.8 h/week per 100 people aged 50+ years). Burden in low-/lower-middle-income countries was 2- to 3-fold higher than in higher-income countries, with any financial burden averaging 14.3% of median family income in high-, 17.7% in upper-middle-, and 39.8% in low-/lower-middle-income countries. Higher burden was reported by women than men and for conditions of spouses and children than parents or siblings. CONCLUSIONS: Uncompensated family caregiving is an important societal asset that offsets rising formal healthcare costs. However, the substantial burdens experienced by aging caregivers across multiple family health conditions and geographic regions threaten the continued integrity of their caregiving capacity. Initiatives supporting older family caregivers are consequently needed, especially in low-/lower-middle-income countries.