{"title":"Community services for older people: a cross-sectional study to explore awareness and the degree of need for long-term care resources","authors":"Mu-Hsing Ho, Jed Motayre, Megan F. Liu, H. Chang","doi":"10.1080/10376178.2022.2091625","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"Background: Dementia can lead to family, medical, and social burdens. Long-term care issues of older adults in Taiwan and the burdens of caregivers are beginning to be taken seriously by the government. Relevant resources for older adults have gradually increased; however, older adults and caregivers are often not likely to seek resources and might not know what resources are available. Aims: In this study, we screened for cognitive impairment among community-dwelling older adults, and investigated knowledge of dementia among older adults, awareness of long-term care resources, and the degree of need from caregivers’ perspectives. Design: A cross-sectional research design with purposive sampling was used. Methods: This study was carried out in a city in northern Taiwan. In total, 137 older adults completed the surveys with the following inclusion criteria: (1) being 65 years or older and (2) living at home. Additionally, 128 caregivers were also interviewed. Face-to-face interviews were conducted and self-administered questionnaires were delivered to all enrolled participants including: (1) a questionnaire of knowledge of dementia, (2) the Ascertain Dementia (AD)-8 questionnaire; and (3) awareness of community-based long-term care resources and needs questionnaire. Results: Results showed that 16.8% of older adults required a further definite diagnosis of dementia and had relatively low knowledge regarding dementia. Caregivers reported a low level of awareness regarding available long-term care resources despite needing and/or using those resources. Conclusions: Policymakers and practitioners should proactively promote supportive services for older adults and caregivers in the community. Future research should explore strategies for enhancing resource utilization and accessing tailored support to meet the needs of older adults with dementia.","PeriodicalId":55633,"journal":{"name":"Contemporary Nurse","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.2000,"publicationDate":"2022-05-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"1","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Contemporary Nurse","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1080/10376178.2022.2091625","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q3","JCRName":"NURSING","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 1
Abstract
Background: Dementia can lead to family, medical, and social burdens. Long-term care issues of older adults in Taiwan and the burdens of caregivers are beginning to be taken seriously by the government. Relevant resources for older adults have gradually increased; however, older adults and caregivers are often not likely to seek resources and might not know what resources are available. Aims: In this study, we screened for cognitive impairment among community-dwelling older adults, and investigated knowledge of dementia among older adults, awareness of long-term care resources, and the degree of need from caregivers’ perspectives. Design: A cross-sectional research design with purposive sampling was used. Methods: This study was carried out in a city in northern Taiwan. In total, 137 older adults completed the surveys with the following inclusion criteria: (1) being 65 years or older and (2) living at home. Additionally, 128 caregivers were also interviewed. Face-to-face interviews were conducted and self-administered questionnaires were delivered to all enrolled participants including: (1) a questionnaire of knowledge of dementia, (2) the Ascertain Dementia (AD)-8 questionnaire; and (3) awareness of community-based long-term care resources and needs questionnaire. Results: Results showed that 16.8% of older adults required a further definite diagnosis of dementia and had relatively low knowledge regarding dementia. Caregivers reported a low level of awareness regarding available long-term care resources despite needing and/or using those resources. Conclusions: Policymakers and practitioners should proactively promote supportive services for older adults and caregivers in the community. Future research should explore strategies for enhancing resource utilization and accessing tailored support to meet the needs of older adults with dementia.
期刊介绍:
Contemporary Nurse is an international peer-reviewed journal designed to increase nursing skills, knowledge and communication, assist in professional development and to enhance educational standards by publishing stimulating, informative and useful articles on a range of issues influencing professional nursing research, teaching and practice.
Contemporary Nurse is a forum for nursing educators, researchers and professionals who require high-quality, peer-reviewed research on emerging research fronts, perspectives and protocols, community and family health, cross-cultural research, recruitment, retention, education, training and practitioner perspectives.
Contemporary Nurse publishes original research articles, reviews and discussion papers.