Anna-Karin Edberg

The very old (80+) are often described as a "frail" group that is particularly exposed to diseases and functional disability. They are at great risk of losing the ability to manage their activities of daily living independently. A health-promoting intervention programme might prevent or delay dependence in activities of daily life and the development of functional decline. Studies have shown that those who benefit most from a health-promoting and disease-preventive programme are persons with no, or discrete, activity restrictions. The three-armed study "Elderly in the risk zone" is designed to evaluate if multi-dimensional and multi-professional educational senior meetings are more effective than preventive home visits, and if it is possible to prevent or delay deterioration if an intervention is made when the persons are not so frail. In this paper the study design, the intervention and the outcome measures as well as the baseline characteristics of the study participants are presented.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to explore nurses’ experience of strain in dementia care. Method: Focus groups were held with 35 nurses in Sweden, Australia and UK, who care for people with dementia. The discussions were tape-recorded and analysed using qualitative content analysis. Results: The nurses described the complexity of their situation and referred to environmental factors such as ‘the system’, community attitudes, other staff, residents’ family members and also their own family. With regard to caring for people with dementia, three main sources of strain could be identified: Being unable to reach; Trying to protect; and Having to balance competing needs. Conclusion: The nurses’ experience could be understood as a desire to do the best for the people in their care by trying to alleviate their suffering and enhance their quality of life. When they did not have the resources, opportunity or ability to do this, it caused strain.