New research aims to help prepare families caring for people with dementia for end-of-life decisions
Dec 20, 2018
Photo above: Dr. Sharon Kaasalainen
The death of a loved one is always hard, but when family caregivers are not prepared for it, it can make the final decisions very difficult.
Nursing professor Dr. Sharon Kaasalainen has recently been awarded a research grant to develop ways to ease this burden.
Kaasalainen is the principal investigator on the research project. “This study was funded by CIHR as part of a larger research funding program coordinated by the European Union,” she explains. “Five countries are involved in this study and will each implement and evaluate the Family Carer Decision Support (FCDS) intervention. This intervention aims to help inform family caregivers about end of life care options available for people with advanced dementia. Ultimately we hope to prepare family caregivers more about what to expect so that they can feel better about their decisions later on when death is near for their loved one.”
Grant details:
Canadian team: Kaasalainen, S., Sussman, T., Akhtar-Danesh, N., Hunter, P., McCleary, L., Thompson, G., Venturato, L., Wickson-Griffiths, A. Scaling up the Family Carer Decision Support Intervention: A transnational effectiveness-implementation evaluation. CIHR. $349,998. Nov-01-18 to Oct-31-21. (Note: This grant is part of a larger funding program coordinated by European Union/Joint Programme On Neurodegenerative Disease (Lead: Kevin Brazil): “Multinational Research Projects On Health And Social Care For Neurodegenerative Diseases”.)
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