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'Working away in that Grey Area…' A qualitative exploration of the challenges general practitioners experience when managing behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia.

ABSTRACT: general practitioners (GPs) have identified the management of behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD) as a particularly challenging aspect of dementia care. However, there is a paucity of research on why GPs find BPSD challenging and how this influences the care they offer to their patients with dementia.to establish the challenges GPs experience when managing BPSD; to explore how these challenges influence GPs' management decisions; and to identify strategies for overcoming these challenges.qualitative study of GPs experiences of managing BPSD.semi-structured interviews were conducted with 16 GPs in the Republic of Ireland. GPs were purposively recruited to include participants with differing levels of experience caring for people with BPSD in nursing homes and in community settings to provide maximum diversity of views. Interviews were analysed thematically.three main challenges of managing BPSD were identified; lack of clinical guidance, stretched resources and difficulties managing expectations. The lack of relevant clinical guidance available affected GPs' confidence when managing BPSD. In the absence of appropriate resources GPs felt reliant upon sedative medications. GPs believed their advocacy role was further compromised by the difficulties they experienced managing expectations of family caregivers and nursing home staff.this study helps to explain the apparent discrepancy between best practice recommendations in BPSD and real-life practice. It will be used to inform the design of an intervention to support the management of BPSD in general practice.

SUBMITTER: Jennings AA

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6016685 | biostudies-other | 2018 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-other

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'Working away in that Grey Area…' A qualitative exploration of the challenges general practitioners experience when managing behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia.

Jennings Aisling A AA Foley Tony T McHugh Sheena S Browne John P JP Bradley Colin P CP

Age and ageing 20180301 2

<h4>Background</h4>general practitioners (GPs) have identified the management of behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD) as a particularly challenging aspect of dementia care. However, there is a paucity of research on why GPs find BPSD challenging and how this influences the care they offer to their patients with dementia.<h4>Objectives</h4>to establish the challenges GPs experience when managing BPSD; to explore how these challenges influence GPs' management decisions; and to ...[more]

PMID: 29220480

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Project description:In the context of rising dementia prevalence, the workload of general practitioners (GPs) in dementia care is set to increase. However, there are many aspects of dementia care that GPs find challenging. Behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD) affect the majority of people with dementia and is an aspect of dementia care that GPs find particularly difficult to manage. The aim of this mixed methods systematic review is to undertake a synthesis of qualitative and quantitative studies on GPs' knowledge, attitudes and experiences of managing BPSD.Seven electronic bibliographic databases will be searched from inception to present. All qualitative or quantitative studies that explore the knowledge, attitude or experiences of GPs towards the management of BPSD in community and/or residential settings will be eligible for inclusion. A meta-ethnography will be conducted to synthesise included studies. Primary outcome measures will include GPs' experiences of managing BPSD, GPs' knowledge of BPSD and their attitude to different approaches to the management of BPSD, in particular their attitude to non-pharmacological approaches. All included papers will be independently assessed for methodological validity by two reviewers using the following tools: the Joanna Briggs Institute checklist for qualitative research, the Effective Public Health Practice Project (EPHPP) tool for intervention studies and the National Institute of Health (NIH) quality assessment tool for observational and analytical cross-sectional studies. As there is no agreed quality assessment tool for descriptive cross-sectional studies, an original tool will be developed. Two independent reviewers will apply the Confidence in the Evidence from Reviews of Qualitative Research (CERQual) tool to the review findings. The results will be reported in line with the Enhancing Transparency in Reporting the Synthesis of Qualitative Research (ENTREQ) statement.This study will be the first systematic review that synthesises the existing literature of GPs' knowledge, attitudes and experiences of managing BPSD in community and residential care. This review will improve our understanding of GPs' perspectives on the management of BPSD, and the results will be used to inform the development of an intervention to improve the management of BPSD in general practice.PROSPERO CRD42017054916 .

Project description:ObjectivesCarer's self-initiated management strategies of behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD) can inform intervention development. These strategies are affected by cultural values. Little is known about non-Western dementia carers' BPSD management strategies. This study aimed to explore self-initiated strategies in managing BPSD adopted by Chinese carers.DesignQualitative study using thematic framework method.SettingCommunity setting in Hong Kong.Participants16 dementia carers with purposive sampling to include carers of different relationships to the people living with dementia (PLwD), education level and living arrangement.ResultsSix overarching themes emerged from the data: (1) maintaining personhood in PLwD, (2) responding positively to BPSD, (3) explanation and bargaining, (4) responding negatively to BPSD, (5) controlling upsetting thoughts, and (6) getting respite care. Chinese carers treasured warm and supportive family relationships. They identified and minimised triggers to alleviate BPSD. Some carers struggled with care tasks and reacted with confrontation and avoidance. Changing attitudes and getting social and emotional support were described to manage carers' distress. Few self-care strategies including getting respite care were reported.ConclusionsCarers' self-initiated strategies largely aligned with existing theoretical frameworks in BPSD management, such as person-centred approach, and echoed Asian culture, which advocates filial piety and supportive family relationships. While these cultural values encourage the engagement of people living with dementia in the normal process of family life, they may also prevent carers from taking time away from care. Interventions could support carers by enhancing their knowledge and skills in managing BPSD, providing social and emotional support, and providing guidance in self-care. Future cross-cultural research could explore factors contributing to how carers manage BPSD and how interventions could be culturally adapted to facilitate carers to apply learnt skills in daily practice and hence benefit the people living with dementia and carer population.

Project description:Non-cognitive behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia affect up to 90% of people with dementia during the disease course and result in distress, increased carer burden, high service utilization and unwanted moves to care homes. Research has focused on long-term settings and has not considered people with dementia living at home and at different stages of the disease trajectory. Our aim is to review systematically the evidence concerning non-pharmacological strategies to minimise behavioural and psychological symptoms in community-dwelling older people with dementia.Our approach is a two-stage co-design: a systematic mapping of the broad evidence around behavioural and psychological symptoms followed by an in-depth systematic review of studies of non-pharmacological interventions for behavioural and psychological symptoms from the perspective of their impact on community-dwelling older people with dementia and their carers. The review will include published literature involving a wide range of electronic databases using sensitive and comprehensive searches and lateral searching including checking citations.We will produce a descriptive map of the studies by design and by the focus of interventions and apply further inclusion criteria, developed in conjunction with lay experts, to select studies for an in-depth systematic review that will include independent quality assessment and detailed data extraction by two reviewers.The review process will be integrated with stakeholder meetings and a multidisciplinary expert advisory group to guide the review parameters and shape the research questions on the management of behavioural and psychological symptoms in people with dementia. Because studies are likely to be diverse in methodology and interventions, we will conduct a narrative synthesis of the in-depth systematic review. If appropriate, we will pool studies in a meta-analysis. We will explore review findings at both stages through focus groups and interviews with service providers, practitioners, people with dementia and carers.This integrated review in collaboration with key stakeholders will synthesise research evidence to identify appropriate interventions for effective management of behavioural and psychological symptoms that supports people with dementia living at home and their carers, and which reflects their priorities. It will make recommendations for research and practice.PROSPERO registration number: CRD42013004344.

Project description:BackgroundBehavioural and psychological symptoms are associated with dementia, but are also present in a significant number of the older population without dementia. Here we explore the distribution of behavioural and psychological symptoms in the population without dementia, and their relationship with domains and severity of health and cognitive impairment.MethodsThe Medical Research Council Cognitive Function and Ageing Study is a two-phase longitudinal study of ageing representative of the population aged 65 and over of England and Wales. A subsample of 1781 participants without a study diagnosis of dementia was included in this study. Information on symptoms including depression, apathy, anxiety, feelings of persecution, hallucination, agitated behaviour, elation, irritability, sleep problems, wandering, confabulation and misidentification, cognitive function, health related factors and socio-demographic information was extracted from interviews with participants and knowledgeable informants. Participants were classified according to the Mini-Mental State Examination and by criteria for subtypes of mild cognitive impairment (MCI). The prevalence of behavioural and psychological symptoms and associations with cognitive function, health and socio-demographics was examined. Co-occurrence of symptoms was tested using factor analysis.ResultsMost symptoms were reported more frequently in those with more severe cognitive impairment. Subjective memory complaints were the strongest independent predictor of reported symptoms, and most were reported more often in those classified as having MCI than in those with cognitive impairments that did not meet the MCI criteria. The pattern of co-occurrence of symptoms is similar to that seen in dementia.ConclusionsOur results highlight that behavioural and psychological symptoms are prevalent in the cognitively impaired older population, and partly explain the variation observed in previous cohorts of individuals with MCI. Behavioural and psychological symptoms offer a target for intervention and so are an important consideration in the assessment of cognitively impaired older people.

Dataset Information

'Working away in that Grey Area…' A qualitative exploration of the challenges general practitioners experience when managing behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia.

Publications

'Working away in that Grey Area…' A qualitative exploration of the challenges general practitioners experience when managing behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia.

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