Technology Use among Family Caregivers of People with Dementia.

This study explored family caregivers' use of technology to care for people with dementia living at home. Three questions were pursued: (1) what are the important, unmet needs of family caregivers, (2) how do they use technologies to assist in care tasks, and (3) what do health care providers know about caregivers' needs and technology use? Two comprehensive surveys were developed to answer these questions: one for family caregivers (n = 33), and one for health care providers (n = 60). Descriptive and quantitative analyses showed that caregivers' important, unmet needs were in the domains of information, formal services, and emotional support. Caregivers make limited use of technology but believe in its potential usefulness. Health care providers agree that technology is useful in dementia care; however, they underestimate caregivers' willingness to adopt technologies to communicate with providers. Findings prove caregiver willingness to use technology to support their care role and provide guidance regarding the caregiver needs that these technologies should address.

Multidisciplinary design and implementation of a day program specialized for the frontotemporal dementias.

To supervise activities for patients with frontotemporal dementias presents major challenges to day programs typically equipped to care for more elderly, frail patients. In this article, we present the development and immediate outcomes of integrating a day program specialized for patients with frontal lobe disturbances into an already established day program. Planning required new collaborations between the ambulatory memory clinic and the day program staff. Immediate outcomes have included relief of burden for an under-served group of caregivers and behavioral management that more seamlessly combines strategies for medication titration, environmental adjustments, and activity participation.

The role of the nurse in an ambulatory stroke and cognition clinic.

In this paper we described our approach to the development of the role of a nurse within a stroke and cognition ambulatory clinic at Baycrest. In developing this approach we integrated Baycrest's commitment to clients and family-focused care, our focus on interdisciplinary collaborative practice, the position of the post-rehabilitation clinic in the continuum of care, the clinical experience of the nurse and director, and the relevant scholarly literature. The role of the nurses in the stroke and cognition clinic includes assessment, interdisciplinary care planning, client/family support, and knowledge transfer.