Healthcare interventions for older people with dementia and family caregivers in Europe: A scoping review.

AIM: This study aimed to examine the extent, range and variety of research in Europe describing healthcare interventions for older people with dementia (PwD) and family caregivers. METHODS: This was a scoping review and followed the PRISMA Scoping Review guideline. MEDLINE, CINAHL and Cochrane library databases were searched for studies published between 2010 and 2020. Studies reporting healthcare interventions in Europe for PwD over 65 years and their family caregivers were included. RESULTS: Twenty-one studies from six European countries were included. The types of healthcare intervention identified were categorized as follows: (1) family unit intervention (interventions for both PwD and their family caregiver), (2) individual intervention (separate interventions for PwD or family caregivers) and (3) family caregiver only intervention (interventions for family caregivers only but with outcomes for both PwD and family caregivers). CONCLUSIONS: This review provides insight into healthcare interventions for older PwD and family caregivers in Europe. More studies are needed that focus on the family as a unit of care in dementia.

Family Health of Patients With Heart Failure and Their Family Members Before and During the First COVID-19 Lockdown.

Background: Family health plays a vital role in the self-care and lifestyle modifications in families living with heart failure. Objective: To investigate the family health of patients with heart failure and their family members before and during the first COVID-19 lockdown. Method: This was a cross-sectional study design. We included 34 participants before and 34 participants during the first COVID-19 lockdown. Independent t-tests were conducted for comparison of the mean scores of the family health and its dimensions. Results: There was no significant difference between the total score of family health during the first COVID-19 lockdown compared to before the first COVID-19 lockdown in patients and family members. However, the values and ill-being dimensions of family health in patients and ill-being dimension in family members were significantly decreased during the first COVID-19 lockdown. Conclusion: This study indicated the positive and negative impacts of COVID-19 lockdown on family health. Implications for Nursing: Our results may help nurses to identify vulnerable patients with a low level of family health to tailor the best support to them.