居家失智老人家屬照顧者照顧需求及需求被滿足情形之研究

Care Needs and Need Fulfillment in Family Caregivers of Older CommunityDwelling Adults With Dementia

失智患者家屬照顧者所承受之壓力遠勝於其他慢性病之家屬照顧者，因此，提供他們所需的協助為重要的照護議題。本研究目的即在瞭解居家失智老人家屬照顧者之照顧需求及需求被滿足的情形，採橫斷性描述性研究設計，於台中兩家醫院門診進行方便取樣，對108位主要家屬照顧者進行問卷調查。結果發現：(1)居家失智老人以輕度失智者最多(51.8%)。(2)私人照顧需求最高之前三項為有人提供照顧的知識與技巧、有人照顧病患讓家屬有時間辨事情、有人照顧病患以讓家屬喘口氣，70%的家屬有這些需求，然皆未被滿足。(3)制度化需求最高之前三項為有相同照顧經驗的人在一起分享、政府提供醫療費用補助、支持團體聚會，一半以上的家屬有這些需求，然亦未被滿足。建議健康專業團隊應優先提供家屬高度需求、但未被滿足之項目，包括及時提供失智照顧的知識與技巧、舉辦支持團體、提供喘息服務等。如此，才能滿足家屬照顧上的問題，進而延緩失智老人入住機構的時間。

The purpose of the study was to understand the needs of family caregivers for older adults with dementia and whether the needs were fulfilled.The findings were: (1)The majority of elders were diagnosed as mild dementia. (2)The top three private needs of the family caregivers were "Someone offers you knowledge and skills about dementia", "Someone could take care of the patient, so you can take a rest", and "Someone will assist, so you can have time tomanage other business".About 70%of the caregivers had the three needs, however, the needs were not fulfilled. (3) The top three formal needs were "Sharing care experience with other caregivers", "Financial aid from the government" and "Support groups gathering". More thanhalfof the caregivers had these three needs, however, the needswere not fulfilled.Our finding suggested that health professionals should first provide care skills, support groups and respite service in order to postpone the dementia patients' institutionalization.