Proactive care of carers of people with dementia

Proactive primary care of carers of people with dementia: Lessons learnt from a feasibility study

Many people with dementia or cognitive impairment are cared for at home by family carers who may themselves be frail older adults or who may suffer from chronic conditions. There is evidence that caring has adverse impacts on carers; however, many do not seek, or delay seeking, appropriate health care.

How can we assist carers to ‘care for themselves?’ Who can we empower cares to recognise their own adverse health outcomes and to seek advice and talk timely action? In a feasibility study conducted in WA, we explored a protocol to identify unmet healthcare needs of carers of people with cognitive impairment.

Our results demonstrated that our approach was feasible, carers found the protocol useful and reported specific outcomes. This presentation will outline their experience as well as the challenges of implementation and engagement with GPs.

A presentation by A/Professor Barbara Horner in 2013

View the video presentation