Predictors of Caregiver Distress in the Community Setting Using the Home Care Version of the Resident Assessment Instrument.

PURPOSE OF STUDY: The purpose of this study was to identify factors predictive of new onset and improved caregiver distress among informal caregivers providing assistance for clients receiving home care. PRIMARY PRACTICE SETTINGS: Home care. METHODOLOGY AND SAMPLE: The sample included 323,409 clients receiving home care from a Community Care Access Centre between March 2002 and March 2015 for whom data were available from two subsequent Resident Assessment Instrument-Home Care (RAI-HC) assessments. Separate multivariate logistic regression models were created for onset of and improvement in caregiver distress. RESULTS: Variables that increase the odds in onset of caregiver distress included primary caregiver is not satisfied with support received from family and friends; client lives with primary caregiver; 65 years and older; has Alzheimer and other related dementia; has condition or disease that makes cognition, activities of daily living, mood, or behavior patterns unstable; took sedatives in the last 7 days; Method for Assigning Priority Levels (MAPLe) score 4 or more; demonstrates persistent anger; has difficulty using the telephone; is married; requires 20 hr or more of informal help weekly; and Clinical Risk Scale score 4 or more. Variables that increased the odds of improved caregiver distress include client now lives with other persons (as compared with 90 days ago); demonstrates good prospects for recovery; treatment changes in last 30 days; surgical wound; female; one or more hospital visits in last 90 days; greater number of months between RAI-HC assessments; and two or more hours of physical activities in the last 3 days. Variables that decreased the odds of improved caregiver distress (i.e., persistent distress) include MAPLe score 4 or more; persistent anger; difficulty using telephone; Alzheimer, related dementia; requires interpreter; and lives with primary caregiver. IMPLICATIONS FOR CASE MANAGEMENT PRACTICE: Informal caregivers provide essential support for home care clients. Factors predictive of new onset and improved caregiver distress can be used by case managers for comprehensive care planning that addresses the collective needs of the client-caregiver dyad.

Cost of an Integrated Care Program to Reduce ED Visits During Diabetic Prisoner Court Hearings.

Diabetic events occurring during court hearings previously required emergency medical services (EMS) transport to the emergency department (ED). A new process was implemented whereby the provincial court (PC) was notified by the detention center of diabetes status of prisoners scheduled for court later that day, enabling a community nursing services provider to provide on-site diabetes assessment and treatment at the PC. During the 13-month pre-implementation phase, there were 10 incidents of diabetic distress resulting in an ED visit at a total cost of $797.58/prisoner, including police service personnel, EMS, and ED staff/physician. During the 12.5-month postimplementation phase, insulin was administered on-site during 72 court dates at a cost of $161.93/prisoner. The new process for managing diabetic needs of prisoners during court dates resulted in a substantial cost savings in terms of police services and health care personnel and improved the immediacy and quality of care for prisoners.

Evaluation of an Integrated Cluster Care and Supportive Housing Model for Unstably Housed Persons Using the Shelter System.

PURPOSE: To evaluate the feasibility of an integrated cluster care and supportive housing model. PRIMARY PRACTICE SETTING(S): Community shelters. METHODOLOGY AND SAMPLE: The Inner City Access Program (ICAP) is a new service delivery model employed by the Toronto Central Community Care Access Centre, which combines supportive housing services and health care for homeless, underhoused, and marginalized populations using the shelter system. We evaluated the effectiveness of the ICAP in facilitating access to health services, supporting goal-setting, and promoting interprofessional case management. Client interviews examined care goals, goal achievement, and satisfaction; staff interviews determined client-centeredness of staff-identified care goals/planning; document reviews were conducted to obtain service utilization and process data. RESULTS: Twenty clients received service during a 15-month period before implementation. This increased to 147 clients during a 16-month period post-implementation at a 60% reduction in cost/client. Results indicated that regular interdisciplinary team meetings promoted greater service delivery efficiency; greater client satisfaction was associated with goal achievement (p < .01); and a trend toward greater perceived goal achievement (as reported separately by clients and staff) and client satisfaction when staff- and client-stated goals were more closely aligned. IMPLICATIONS FOR CASE MANAGEMENT PRACTICE: The ICAP proved an efficient and cost-effective model in engaging marginalized populations. There was a trend toward greater client satisfaction when clients perceived success related to "education, employment, activities, and programs" goals.

Evaluation of a problem-solving (PS) techniques-based intervention for informal carers of patients with dementia receiving in-home care.

BACKGROUND: The value of care provided by informal carers in Canada is estimated at $26 billion annually (Hollander et al., 2009). However, carers' needs are often overlooked, limiting their capacity to provide care. Problem-solving therapy (PST), a structured approach to problem solving (PS) and a core principle of the Reitman Centre CARERS Program, has been shown to alleviate emotional distress and improve carers' competence (Chiu et al., 2013). This study evaluated the effectiveness of problem-solving techniques-based intervention based on adapted PST methods, in enhancing carers' physical and emotional capacity to care for relatives with dementia living in the community. METHODS: 56 carers were equally allocated to a problem-solving techniques-based intervention group or a control arm. Carers in the intervention group received three 1 hr visits by a care coordinator (CC) who had been given advanced training in PS techniques-based intervention. Coping, mastery, competence, burden, and perceived stress of the carers were evaluated at baseline and post-intervention using standardized assessment tools. An intention-to-treat analysis utilizing repeated measures ANOVA was performed on the data. RESULTS: Post-intervention measures completion rate was 82% and 92% for the intervention and control groups, respectively. Carers in the intervention group showed significantly improved task-oriented coping, mastery, and competence and significantly reduced emotion-oriented coping, burden and stress (p < 0.01-0.001). Control carers showed no change. CONCLUSION: PS techniques, when learned and delivered by CCs as a tool to coach carers in their day-to-day caregiving, improves carers' caregiving competence, coping, burden, and perceived stress. This may reduce dependence on primary, psychiatric, and institutional care. Results provide evidence that establishing effective partnerships between inter-professional clinicians in academic clinical health science centers, and community agencies can extend the reach of the expertise of specialized health care institutions.