Understanding the quality of life of personal care home residents with Alzheimer's disease and related dementias: Family caregivers' perspectives

Abstract

Manitoba’s population is aging. Trends in personal care home (PCH) use have also changed so that residents today have more cognitive impairments including Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (ADRD). While quality of life (QoL) has emerged as an important PCH research outcome, this literature is relatively sparse for residents with versus without ADRD. This study was conducted to examine the QoL of PCH residents with ADRD, using a recently developed but as of yet untested framework by Kane and colleagues (1999, as cited in Frytak; Kane 2001, 2003). The specific aims of this study were to gather family caregivers’ perspectives on: (a) the meaning of the six domains that constitute Kane et al.’s ADRD-specific PCH-QoL framework; (b) domains they considered to be more important or lacking from this framework; and, (c) general PCH policies, practices, and activities that currently (or could better) facilitate positive QoL experiences for their loved ones.