Effectiveness of the Program to Provide Adequate Care for the Elderly with Dementia to Helping and Supporting Caregivers in the Family

Abstract

This research aims to determine the effectiveness of the program for providing adequate care for the elderly with dementia for helping and supporting the primary caregiver in the family in Maha Sarakham Province, this was a Quasi Experimental research with two repeated measures groups. Measurements were taken before and after the experiment for 3 months. The sample group was the elderly, who are cognitively impaired and have dementia, have at least one behavioral disorder related to dementia, and caregivers of elderly living in the same family in Maha Sarakham Province, there were 172 couples, there were an experimental group and a control group, 86 couples in each group. The experimental group received an adequate care program for the elderly with dementia in helping and supporting the caregiver in the family under the supervision of Care Manager and Care Giver for a period of 12 weeks, the control group received normal care according to the Long term care plan. The results found that Elderly people in the experimental group after testing a program the ability to carry out daily activities improved and when comparing the differences in the average scores for ability to carry out daily living activities. Between the experimental group and the control group after the experiment, it was found that there were statistically significant. The burden of care for the caregiver in the experimental group, it was found that after the experiment, the burden of care decreased from before the experiment statistically significant, and when comparing the difference in mean care burden scores between the experimental and control groups after the experiment, it was found that there was a statistically significant.Adequate care programs for elderly people with dementia are appropriate on the care of elderly people with cognitive impairments or dementia and their family caregivers.