A Pilot Study of An Intervention to Increase Family Member Involvement in Nursing Home Care Plan Meetings

Satisfaction with care quality and anxiety among family members during nursing home visiting restrictions: The chain mediating effect of emotional regulation and perceived stress

Introduction

This study aimed to investigate the psychological well-being (perceived stress and anxiety) of Chinese family members during nursing home visiting restrictions and to elucidate the relationships among satisfaction with care quality, emotion regulation, perceived stress, and anxiety.

Methods

An online survey was conducted with a cross-sectional study design. From 18 to 29 January 2022, a total of 571 family members of nursing home residents completed online questionnaires comprising socio-demographic characteristics, satisfaction with care quality, emotion regulation, perceived stress, and anxiety. Mediation analyses were performed to estimate the direct and indirect effects of satisfaction with care quality on anxiety using the PROCESS macro for SPSS.

Results

The results showed that approximately one-quarter of Chinese family members had anxiety symptoms during nursing home visiting restrictions. Satisfaction with care quality affected anxiety via three mediating paths: (a) through cognitive reappraisal (effect = 0.028); (b) through cognitive reappraisal and perceived stress sequentially (effect = −0.057); and (c) through perceived stress (effect = −0.212). The chain mediating effect (path b) accounted for 23.7% of the total effect.

Conclusions

These findings corroborated our hypothesis that cognitive reappraisal (a kind of emotion regulation strategy) and perceived stress mediated the relationship between satisfaction with care quality and anxiety during nursing home visiting restrictions. Efforts to address family members’ psychological well-being by focusing on cognitive reappraisal should be considered.

Keeping the Connection Alive With Tender Care and Common Sense: A Phenomenological Study on Daughters' Experiences of Having a Mother in a Nursing Home

The relationship between mother and daughter is exceptional when it comes to closeness and its impact on their whole life. Thus, a mother's move to a nursing home is pivotal for both of them. The aim of this interpretative phenomenological study, using the Vancouver School of Doing Phenomenology, was to explore daughters' experience of having a mother in a nursing home, its impact on the maternal relationship, and the daughters' need for education and support. Data were collected by 21 semi-structured interviews with 12 women who had mothers living in a nursing home. Keeping the connection alive with tender care and common sense encapsulates the interrelation between the daughters' urge to hold on to the mother-daughter relationship and the rare consideration of education and support from health professionals. Responsibility and sense of duty paired with relief because the mother is in a safe place were accompanied by the daughters' need for confirmation that the mother is well taken care of.

A Systematic Review of Tools Assessing the Perspective of Caregivers of Residents With Dementia

In collaboration with stakeholders, we conducted a systematic review of psychometric evidence for self-report tools measuring the perspective of family caregivers of nursing home residents with dementia. Our rationale for this review was based on evidence that nonpharmacological interventions can ameliorate dementia symptoms in nursing home residents. Such interventions require caregiver participation, which is influenced by perspectives. Yet, no existing tool measures the multidomain caregiver perspective. Our review followed Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses protocol. The final sample included 42 articles describing 33 tools measuring domains of nursing home dementia care such as behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia, resident quality of life, dementia-specific knowledge, communication, and medication use. We uncovered evidence gaps for tools measuring dementia-specific knowledge, communication, and medication use, all of which were important to our stakeholders. Future research should focus on development of psychometrically sound tools in alignment with the multidomain caregiver perspective.