FAMILY DEMENTIA CAREGIVERS’ PERCEPTIONS OF THE VIRTUAL DEMENTIA TOUR®: A CHANGED REALITY

Family dementia caregiving involves many challenges that often lead to stress and frustration. A subjective understanding of the daily struggles associated with dementia is not possible unless one has the disease; therefore, the family dementia caregiver's perception of dementia might be incongruent with their family member's lived experience. The Virtual Dementia Tour®(VDT) provides a vicarious first-person perspective for six of the most common symptoms of dementia. Although extensive evidence supports the use of the Virtual Dementia Tour® in the healthcare profession and education, no research studies were found investigating the Virtual Dementia Tour® with family dementia caregivers. This hermeneutic phenomenological study discovered family dementia caregivers' perceptions of the VDT® and its impact on family dementia caregivers' perceived reality of their family member living with dementia. Ten participants were recruited for in-depth open semi-structured interviews following participation in the Virtual Dementia Tour® at a community event. Data analysis was performed using a modification of Colaizzi's (1978) method for phenomenological analysis. One over-arching theme, It Changed Me, described the culmination of the participants' experiences leading to a changed reality of their family member living with dementia. Four supporting subthemes described the participants' internal processes toward empathic understanding, interpretation, and responsiveness. The findings suggest that family dementia caregivers interpreted their experience in the Virtual Dementia Tour® with empathic understanding and responsiveness. The VDT® had a powerful impact that led to an eye-opening epiphany about the lived experience of dementia and served as a "call to action" to change expectations and approach to caregiving. This study begins to fill a gap in the body of nursing knowledge and research about the value of the Virtual Dementia Tour® with family dementia caregivers in community settings. Moreover, it highlights the need to combine this experience with formal training to improve the quality of family dementia care

California’s In-Home Supportive Services Program: Who is Served?

Governor Schwarzenegger\u27s preliminary 2004-05 Budget Bill proposed to eliminate a component of California\u27s In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS) program serving approximately 68,000 individuals. This component, known as the Residual Program, included Protective Supervision and Domestic Care services and services provided by parents and spouses. Under the then existing regulations and the state\u27s approved state plan for Medicaid, these services did not qualify for shared financing with the Medicaid program and were thus funded solely by state and county sources. The objective of the administration\u27s proposal was to obtain an estimated net savings from the IHSS program in Fiscal Year 2005 of $366 million

Children in Antiquity: Greece and Egypt

Childhood in antiquity was both remarkably different and, in some ways, remarkably similar to childhood as we know it today. While infant mortality was shockingly high in the ancient Mediterranean, and there were marked differences in the lives and experiences of boys and girls, rich and poor, and of free and slave children, the creativity and playfulness of youth is universal. Play is one area where human instinct and creativity offers direct parallels between the ancient past and our own present. This exhibition of artefacts from the Nicholson Museum collection explores aspects of children’s lives in ancient Greece and Egypt. Themes of birth and infancy, youth, education, play, work, religion and death and burial are brought together to portray the day-to-day experience of childhood in the ancient world

FAMILY DEMENTIA CAREGIVERS’ PERCEPTIONS OF THE VIRTUAL DEMENTIA TOUR®: A CHANGED REALITY

Family dementia caregiving involves many challenges that often lead to stress and frustration. A subjective understanding of the daily struggles associated with dementia is not possible unless one has the disease\; therefore, the family dementia caregiver's perception of dementia might be incongruent with their family member's lived experience. The Virtual Dementia Tour®(VDT) provides a vicarious first-person perspective for six of the most common symptoms of dementia. Although extensive evidence supports the use of the Virtual Dementia Tour® in the healthcare profession and education, no research studies were found investigating the Virtual Dementia Tour® with family dementia caregivers. This hermeneutic phenomenological study discovered family dementia caregivers' perceptions of the VDT® and its impact on family dementia caregivers' perceived reality of their family member living with dementia. Ten participants were recruited for in-depth open semi-structured interviews following participation in the Virtual Dementia Tour® at a community event. Data analysis was performed using a modification of Colaizzi's (1978) method for phenomenological analysis. One over-arching theme, It Changed Me, described the culmination of the participants' experiences leading to a changed reality of their family member living with dementia. Four supporting subthemes described the participants' internal processes toward empathic understanding, interpretation, and responsiveness. The findings suggest that family dementia caregivers interpreted their experience in the Virtual Dementia Tour® with empathic understanding and responsiveness. The VDT® had a powerful impact that led to an eye-opening epiphany about the lived experience of dementia and served as a "call to action" to change expectations and approach to caregiving. This study begins to fill a gap in the body of nursing knowledge and research about the value of the Virtual Dementia Tour® with family dementia caregivers in community settings. Moreover, it highlights the need to combine this experience with formal training to improve the quality of family dementia care

FAMILY DEMENTIA CAREGIVERS' PERCEPTIONS OF THE VIRTUAL DEMENTIA TOUR®: A CHANGED REALITY

"Family dementia caregiving involves many challenges that often lead to stress and frustration. A subjective understanding of the daily struggles associated with dementia is not possible unless one has the disease; therefore , the family dementia caregiver's perception of dementia might be incongruent with their family member's lived experience. The Virtual Dementia Tour®(VDT) provides a vicarious first-person perspective for six of the most common symptoms of dementia. Although extensive evidence supports the use of the Virtual Dementia Tour® in the healthcare profession and education , no research studies were found investigating the Virtual Dementia Tour® with family dementia caregivers. This hermeneutic phenomenological study discovered family dementia caregivers' perceptions of the VDT® and its impact on family dementia caregivers' perceived reality of their family member living with dementia. Ten participants were recruited for in-depth open semi-structured interviews following participation in the Virtual Dementia Tour® at a community event. Data analysis was performed using a modification of Colaizzi's (1978) method for phenomenological analysis. One over-arching theme , It Changed Me , described the culmination of the participants' experiences leading to a changed reality of their family member living with dementia. Four supporting subthemes described the participants' internal processes toward empathic understanding , interpretation , and responsiveness. The findings suggest that family dementia caregivers interpreted their experience in the Virtual Dementia Tour® with empathic understanding and responsiveness. The VDT® had a powerful impact that led to an eye-opening epiphany about the lived experience of dementia and served as a ""call to action"" to change expectations and approach to caregiving. This study begins to fill a gap in the body of nursing knowledge and research about the value of the Virtual Dementia Tour® with family dementia caregivers in community settings. Moreover , it highlights the need to combine this experience with formal training to improve the quality of family dementia care.

Artificial Differences in Clostridium difficile Infection Rates Associated with Disparity in Testing

In 2015, Clostridium difficile testing rates among 30 US community, multispecialty, and cancer hospitals were 14.0, 16.3, and 33.9/1,000 patient-days, respectively. Pooled hospital onset rates were 0.56, 0.84, and 1.57/1,000 patient-days, respectively. Higher testing rates may artificially inflate reported rates of C. difficile infection. C. difficile surveillance should consider testing frequency

Artificial differences in Clostridium difficile infection rates associated with disparity in testing

In 2015, Clostridium difficile testing rates among 30 US community, multispecialty, and cancer hospitals were 14.0, 16.3, and 33.9/1,000 patient-days, respectively. Pooled hospital onset rates were 0.56, 0.84, and 1.57/1,000 patient-days, respectively. Higher testing rates may artificially inflate reported rates of C. difficile infection. C. difficile surveillance should consider testing frequency

Artificial Differences in Clostridium difficile Infection Rates Associated with Disparity in Testing.

In 2015, Clostridium difficile testing rates among 30 US community, multispecialty, and cancer hospitals were 14.0, 16.3, and 33.9/1,000 patient-days, respectively. Pooled hospital onset rates were 0.56, 0.84, and 1.57/1,000 patient-days, respectively. Higher testing rates may artificially inflate reported rates of C. difficile infection. C. difficile surveillance should consider testing frequency