Background
Method
Search terms and databases
Identifying relevant studies and study selection
Level of evidence (LOE) | Description |
---|---|
Level I | Evidence from a systematic review or meta-analysis of all relevant RCTs (randomized controlled trial) or evidence-based clinical practice guidelines based on systematic reviews of RCTs or three or more RCTs of good quality that have similar results. |
Level II | Evidence obtained from at least one well-designed RCT (e.g. large multi-site RCT). |
Level III | Evidence obtained from well-designed controlled trials without randomization (i.e. quasi-experimental). |
Level IV | Evidence from well-designed case-control or cohort studies. |
Level V | Evidence from systematic reviews of descriptive and qualitative studies (meta-synthesis). |
Level VI | Evidence from a single descriptive or qualitative study. |
Level VII | Evidence from the opinion of authorities and/or reports of expert committees. |
Charting and data synthesis
Consultation exercise with stakeholders
Results
Characteristics of included studies
Study/Guidelines | Aim | Study Design | Country | Participants and sample size | Level of Evidence** |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Burridge, Mitchell et al. (2011) | To explore the views of lay caregivers and health professionals about the way lay caregivers’ health concerns are raised by their GP? | Qualitative: Semi-structured interviews | Australia | Cancer Caregivers (n = 6) Health professionals (n = 19). | VI |
Burridge, Mitchell et al. (2017) | Explores carers and GPs’ views regarding the acceptability and usefulness of the NAT-C for helping carers to address their own health concerns. | Qualitative: Semi-structured interviews | Australia | Cancer caregivers (n = 11) and GPs n = 5). | VI |
Carduff et al. (2014) | To identify barriers to and explore strategies for identifying carers in primary care. Particularly self-identifying as carer and identifying those caring in end of life. | Triangulated data: Lit review, workshop and focus groups | UK (Scotland) | Lit review (n = 50 papers), Researcher workshop (n = 70), Focus groups carers (n = 15), health professionals (n = 8) | VI |
Carduff, Jarvis et al. (2016) | To develop, pilot, and evaluate a new model of identifying, assessing, and supporting unpaid carers of people with palliative care needs. | Feasibility study, qualitative evaluation interviews | UK (Scotland) | Carers of terminally ill in 4 GP practices. (n = 81) received carer pack, (n = 25) returned CSNAT form, (n = 11) took part in follow-up interviews. | VI |
Family caregiver alliance (2012) | To provide practitioners with a wide range of measures from which they may generate assessment instruments appropriate and applicable to their practice setting, and beneficial for care planning. | Assessment measures resources inventory | USA | N/A | N/A |
Fisher et al. (2020) | To identify barriers and facilitators faced by HCPs in supporting FCGs, as well as knowledge, skills and attitudes needed by HCPs, to provide comprehensive services to FCGs. | Qualitative – symposium to gather perspectives of FCG’s, HCP’s and stakeholders | Canada | N = 40, FCGs n = 8 (Caregivers of seniors), frontline HCPs n = 6, managers n = 3, senior services organizers n = 3, non-government organizations leaders n = 6, academics n = 11 policy makers n = 3. | VI |
Greenwood et al. (2010) | Investigate GPs’ attitudes to carers, awareness and knowledge of issues facing carers and perceived barriers to supporting carers. | Post-training questionnaire survey of GPs | UK | Practice managers and receptionists) n = 33 | VI |
Greenwood et al. (2011) | Explores the support stroke carers would like from general practice and reactions to a community-based support and perceptions of a general practice team on carer supports. | Qualitative study – Semi-structured interviews | UK (England) | Stroke carers (n = 13) General practice staff (n = 10) GPs from varying sized practices. N = 78 | VI |
Greenwood et al. (2016) | Identify, appraise, and summarize all the published evidence on general practice-based interventions to support carers of people with stroke or dementia. | Systematic Review | UK (England) | 4 included studies – all dementia carers | I |
Jiwa et al. (2010) | To develop an innovation to be tested in a formal clinical trial in Australian general practice (p.10). Pilot testing of NAT-C prior to RCT. | Complex intervention using actor patients | Australia | GPs (n = 6) Actor patients (n = 6), 34 recorded consultations. | VI |
Jones et al. (2012) | Inform the Department of Health about the impact and efficacy of the pilot workshop programme in increasing the participants’ knowledge and awareness about carers and how they might be assisted. | Questionnaire evaluation pre-workshop, post-workshop and 3 months post-workshop | UK | GPs (n = 95), clinical primary care workers (practice nurses, HCA’s), community matrons (n = 25), non-clinical primary care workers | VI |
Kingston University (2010) | Evaluate six pilot workshops across England as part of the National Education Programme for Supporting Carers in General Practice, organized by the Royal College of General Practitioners and the Princess Royal Trust for Carers. | Evaluation of RCGP pilot training for GPs. Questionnaires: preworkshop, end of workshop and post three months | UK | Six pilot workshops, total participants n = 192, total participants working in primary care n = 153. Workshops delivered by 2 GPs and 1 former carer | VI |
Katja Krug et al. (2018) | Increase the knowledge about challenges in general practice for patients, lay carers, and professionals in end-of-life (EoL) care. | Qualitative – focus groups | Germany | GPs (n = 12), medical assistants (N = 7) – with a special interest in palliative care. | VI |
Mitchell et al. (2010) | To assess the efficacy of the systematic utilization of a GP Toolkit in reducing caregivers’ reported number and level of unmet needs AND Evaluate the acceptability of the intervention for GPs and caregivers. | Study protocol for RCT | GPs and caregivers (approx. 400 caregivers and 330 GPs to complete the study) | N/A | |
Mitchell et al. (2013) | To assess the hypothesis that the efficacy of a GP-based intervention incorporating a carer-reported needs checklist and a supporting GP Toolkit of resources, reduces the reported number and intensity of unmet carer needs, compared with usual care. | RCT - general practice | Australia | Carers of people with advanced cancer(N = 392) | II |
National Health Service (NHS) England, patient experience team (2016) | Developing an integrated approach to the identification, assessment, and support of Carers and their families across health and social care. | A resource to help promote working together between Adult social care services, NHS commissioners and providers, and third-sector organizations | UK | N/A | N/A |
National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), (2020) | Guideline providing action-orientated recommendations for good practice, aimed at improving outcomes for adult carers. | Recommendations for health and social care practitioners in supporting Adult Carers. | UK | N/A | N/A |
O’Connor C. (2011) | Assess the role of Ireland’s general practitioners in caring for dementia carers. | Literature Review | Ireland | Dementia caregivers and general practitioners, general practice-based studies | N/A |
Onwumere (2016) | Article in British Journal of General Practice discussing how GPs are in a unique position to support individuals with psychosis and carers in general practice. | Editorial | UK | General practice audience | VII |
Parmar et al. (2020) | (1) To review stakeholder engagement process that led to the development of the competencies, (2) describe the process used to identify the competency domains, (3) report on the modified Delphi process used to validate the domain indicators, and (4) introduce the competency framework. | Multilevel interdisciplinary stakeholder co-design to develop a competency framework | Canada | Expert panel of Stakeholders (n = 50) included family caregivers, health care leaders, not-for-profit social care leaders, health professionals, front-line health care providers, policymakers and policy influencers, national and international researchers | VI |
Peters et al. (2019) | To explore the views of professional stakeholders on how health services, particularly primary care, can support carers and scope for strengthening such support in England. | Qualitative - semi-structured interviews | UK | Total n = 25, (GPs n = 4, Nurse n = 4, pharmacist n = 2, consultant n = 1, phlebotomist n = 1, policy n = 5, voluntary sector n = 8, local authority n = 1, private health sector n = 3, researcher n = 1. | VI |
Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) (2013) – in partnership with Princes Royal Trust for carers. | Guide to help GPs understand who carers are, why they need help, how to involve them in patient care, and how to support them AND Educational tool AND summary report. | Action guide for GPs and their teams | UK | N/A | N/A |
Roen et al. (2019) | To explore and describe health care professionals’ (HCPs) carer support within cancer palliative care within Orkdal district. | Qualitative - focus groups | Norway | HCPs n = 21 | VI |
Riffin et al. (2020) | To identify current approaches to identifying carer needs and risks in primary care, To understand the benefits and barriers to implementing a standardized caregiver assessment in primary care, to derive recommendations for integrating assessment tools into primary care. | Qualitative - semi-structured interviews | USA | Primary care clinicians, staff and administrators (n = 30), Patient and family caregivers (n = 40) | VI |
Robinson et al. (2010) | Addresses long-term care at home for people with dementia with a focus on psychosocial interventions, provision of information, caregiver support, behavioral and psychological symptom management and case management. | A narrative review | UK | N/A | N/A |
Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP)(2019) | To support clinicians in supporting families and caregivers of older persons. | Part B of aged care clinical guide. – families and carers | Australia | N/A | N/A |
RCGP Scotland (n.d.) | To support GPs in the identification, support, and signposting of carers and young carers. | GP Resource/Information leaflet | Scotland | N/A | N/A |
Smith et al. (2018) | To develop and evaluate a series of workshops intended to increase confidence as it relates to communication between caregivers, care recipients and health care professionals and thereby decrease caregiver burden. | Feasibility study | USA | Caregivers (N = 16) | VI |
Sunne et al. (2017) | To provide a concise review of how to care for the caregivers. | Review paper | USA | N/A | N/A |
Swartz & Collins (2011, & 2019) | Summarizing caregiver care by primary care physicians and offer direction for future research – handout for carers is included. | American Family Physician article – Caregiver Care | USA | N/A | N/A |
Vidotto G (2010) | To examine the properties of the Family Strain Questionnaire in the context of the Rasch model for scale construction to pave the way to develop a shortened refined version that practitioners can use routinely to screen for caregiver stress. | Development of a short form of the family strain questionnaire (FSQ). (semi-structured interview | Italy | Caregivers (n = 811) completed original FSQ, caregivers (n = 40) participated in reanalyzing the revised shorter version | VI |
Doctors of BC (British Columbia, Canada) | Tool kit for doctors - how to organize your practice to support family caregivers. | Supplementary resource part of Doctors of BC policy paper “Circle of Care: Supporting Family Caregivers in BC” | Canada | N/A | N/A |
Carers Trust Wales (2019) | Designed to be used by Regional Partnership Boards, Local authorities, Local Health Boards and third sector organizations in Wales to support the identification and commissioning of good services for un-paid carers. | Good practice approaches to supporting carers in wales | UK - Wales | N/A | N/A |
NHS (2019) | Quality markers for supporting carers in general practice. | Quality markers | UK | N/A | N/A |
Northern Sydney Local Health District (Australia) | To provide information to GP’s on the caring experience, what it means to be a carer, the impact of caring for another person, as well as how a GP can support those important partnerships in caring. | A guide for GPs and primary care teams | Australia | N/A | N/A |
Guidance on the identification of Carers
A whole-practice approach to the identification of carers
Carer champion
Guidance on the assessment of carers
Guidance on signposting of carers
Resources for GPs/carers
Resources to support GPs in their role with carers
|
URL Links to online resources [13] |
Information on resources related to caregiver support agencies, education resources, online resources, bereavement helplines, community-based health services, condition-specific supports and hospice [5]. |
Information sheet on financial benefits for family caregivers as part of toolkit/GP Resource [5] |
Links to examples of where practices had implemented carer support [14] |
Information on technology or Apps that can support carers in their role [13] |
Link to carer resource page available on GP professional institute [3] |
Resources to support practices to implement recommendations [14]: A step-by-step guide to developing a practice action plan A self-assessment checklist for auditing how a practice supports carers. |
Resources to support Carers (to be given by GP or practice)
|
Carer Information pack [14] |
Handout/pamphlet/leaflet for carers covering [13]: Who is considered a caregiver? What the benefits and challenges to caregiving are What the doctor can do to help How carers can help themselves Where more information can be found |
A letter explaining the how the practice can support them [24] |
‘Who to call’ fridge magnet with useful numbers [24] (for those approaching end of life) |