Training the health workforce to meet the

needs of family caregivers: Caregiver-

centred care Anne Margriet Pot

Professor of Clinical Geropsychology, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam

Strategic Advisor Care for Older People, Health Care Inspectorate,

Ministry of Health, The Netherlands

Former WHO senior health advisor for

Long-Term Care and Caregiver support

for people with dementia

Presentation

1. World Health Organization: “Training and support forfamily carers is key”

2. The needs of family caregivers

3. Training of the health care workforce

2015 2016 2020 2030

Decade of Healthy Ageing 2020-2030

2017 2018

WHO 1st Ministerial Conference on Dementia

mhGAP toolkitfor health & community

workers

Dementia-friendly

toolkit

Dementia as public health priority

Dementia awareness & friendliness

Dementia risk reduction

Dementia treatment, care & support

Support for dementia carers

Information systems for dementia

Dementia research & innovation

WHO activities to support Member States

Policy guidance

Dementia risk

reduction guidelines

iSupport

GDO e-tool and

platform

Dementia research

prioritisation

Dementia action plan areas

Glo

ba

l D

em

en

tia

Ob

se

rva

tory

(G

DO

)

Global Action Plan on the Public Health Response to Dementia 2017-2025

Support for carers of people with dementia

Proposed actions for Member States

• Carer training and education programmes

• Training professionals in treating carer stress

• Policies / legislation to protect carers

• Empowerment and inclusion

Global target:

• 75% of countries provide support and training programmes for carers and families of people with dementia by 2025.

Global strategy and action plan 2016-2020

Strategic Objective on Long Term Care • Establish and continually

improve the foundations for a sustainable and equitable long-term-care system

• Build workforce capacity and support caregivers

• Ensure the quality of person-centred and integrated long-term care

“Every country should have a LTC-system”

Presentation

1. World Health Organization: “Training and support forfamily carers is key”

2. The needs of family caregivers

3. Training of the health care workforce

Consequences of providing care for family caregivers

Decline in:

• Mental and physical health

• Social relationships and other roles

• Well-being

Different ways to train and support family caregivers

• Information

• Psychoeducation, training

• Support groups

• Respite care

• Psychotherapy

www.iSupportforDementia.org

iSupport: A World Health Organization project

for caregivers of people with dementia

With technical partnerships

from:

• Alberta Seniors Health SCN and

University of Calgary, Canada

• Alzheimer’s Disease International,

London, UK

• Centre for Positive Aging, Hong

Kong, China

• Flinders University, College of

Nursing and Health Sciences,

Australia

• Instituto del a Memoria, Lima,

Peru

• National Institute of Mental Health

and Neuro Sciences, Bangalore,

India

• Stanford University, School of

Medicine, US

• WHO Collaborating centres

o Beijing, China;

o Geneva, Switzerland;

o Utrecht, the Netherlands

“Supporting caregivers to care”

‘iSupport’Design0-6 months

6 mo. Mon.7-18

Introduction to dementia

Being a caregiver

Caring for me

Dealing with challenging behaviours

The journey together

What is dementia and

how does it affect

someone?

Reducing stress in everyday

life**

Thinking differently

Shared decision making

Communication

Modules

Lessons

Doing pleasant activities**

Providing everyday

care

Eating and drinking:

More pleasant mealtimes

Eating and drinking:

Preventing health problems

** Relaxation exercises and examples of pleasant activities are added to the dealing with challenging behaviour lessons and the lessons on “mealtime activities” and “hygiene, bathing and incontinence”.

Introduction to challenging

behaviours

Contributions

The lessons have been developed with contributions from Stanford University, Flinders University,

Trimbos-institute and an international expert panel under the guidance of the World Health Organization

Memory loss

Aggression

Depression and anxiety

Difficulty sleeping

Delusionsand

hallucinations

Repetitive behaviours

Walking and getting lost

Poor or decreased judgement

Putting it all together

Involving others

An enjoyable day

Overview

Toileting and continence care

Personal care

Variation in the needs and preferences of family caregivers for support

• Gender

• Culture

• Employment

• Life experiences and occupation

• Social support network

• Coping and adaptation skills

• Etc.

Presentation

1. World Health Organization: “Training and support forfamily carers is key”

2. The needs of family caregivers

3. Training of the health care workforce

Training of the health workforce to support family caregiversFor information, psychoeducation, support groups, psychotherapy or respitecare

• Referral

• Explanation

• Motivation

• Provision

Be aware of the important societal role of family caregivers

and their need for support

Training and support tailored to the needs of family caregivers - caregiver-centeredExample:

Matching activating interventions to needs of people with dementia (N=20) andtheir caregivers (N=20)

Source: Netta van ’t Leven, Jacomine de Lange, Hanny Groenewoud, Eva van der Ploeg, Anne Margriet Pot. Development of indicators to match activating interventions with needs, preferences and characteristics of people with dementia and their informal caregivers living at home. A qualitative analysis of needs assessments. (Submitted for publication)

Themes

I. Need for activities

II. Timing and openness for change.

III. Lifestyle

IV. Apart or together

V. Meaning of activities

Training and support tailored to the needs of family caregivers - caregiver-centered

Some points for attention:

Needs are often latent, and must be made explicit

To meet a need, the meaning of the need for that person must be explored

The needs of family caregivers are not always in line with those of the person with dementia

Thanks for your attention!

Anne Margriet Pot

a.m.pot@vu.nl

Twitter: @ampot1