Table 3 Methodological characteristics of the included mixed method studies
Setting (Year / country) | Authors | CG sample | Needs assessment methods of the mixed method studies | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Administration | Aim of instrument | Domains | Specific cognitive impairment | Validated instrument | Recipient | |||
Cognitive impairment (MCI, dementia and other) | ||||||||
2010/ Netherlands [96] | Wolfs et al. | 252 informal CGs; 62.7% female; 45.2% spouse; mean age = 61.9 years | By telephone | care needs and satisfaction | Semi-structured interviews by telephone including quantitative and qualitative data. Eight areas: informal caregiving and burden; inventory of the utilized care and treatment and satisfaction; inventory of the non-utilized reasons for non-utilizing care and treatment option; needs to improve care and treatment; the choice and the transparency of the care and treatment option. | yes | No, instrument developed for the study | CG |
AD | ||||||||
1998/ USA [97] | Kuhn et al. | 20 informal CGs; 11 female 14 spouse; mean age = 60 years | Self-administered | topic of interest | 16-item survey (learning needs in relation to the disease). Three-point rating scale. + Semi-structured interviews. Seven areas, 20 open-ended questions: symptoms of AD and initial perception, CG reaction to diagnosis and beliefs about AD, needs, changes, coping, use of formal and informal resources, future planning and advice. | yes | No, instrument developed for the study | CG |
2005/ USA [98] | Habermann et al. | 20 informal CGs; 16 female; 12 spouse; mean age 60.9 years | Face-to-face interviews | CG’s needs | 16-item survey with three areas (Caregiver Assistance Measure): caregiving knowledge and skills, community resources, self-care. Three-point rating scale. + Open-ended questions: most difficult aspects of the caregiving situation, type of assistance perceived as important. | yes | No, instrument developed for the study | CG |
EOD | ||||||||
2014/ Canada [99] | Ducharme et al. | 32 informal CGs; 75% female78% spouse; mean age 54,28 years | Face-to-face interviews | unmet support needs | Questionnaire FCSA (4 areas, 38 items) + semi-structured interview. Topics: identification of other needs not covered by the tools and other types of useful help, improvement and quality expectation of help. | No(CG) | Yes - Family CGs Support Agreement (FCSA) tool | CG |
Dementia | ||||||||
2001/ Australia [100] | Leong et al. | Survey: 94 CGs; over 2/3 were female; mean age = 65.5 yearsQualitative interviews: 10 CGs; five female | Self-administered | CG’s needs | Questionnaire FCNS. Eight areas, 42 items: information, household, spiritual, Respite, personal, psychological, legal and financial, and physical care/ skills needs. + Semi-structured interviews. Topics: the nature of family caring and gather a more complete picture of experiences, feelings, perceptions and needs of CGs) | yes | No, Family Carer Need Survey (FCNS).This instrument draws on the Home Carer Need Survey, with modifications to suit Australian respondents caring for a family member with dementia. | CG |
2010/ Australia [101] | Stirling et al. | 20 informal CGs; 18 female 14 spouse | By telephone | services needs | Community service use measured explored by the final domain of the Carer’s checklist + 3 semi-structured interviews. Topics: CG interaction with community service providers, CG experiences, CG socio-economic circumstances, felt needs for services. | No(CG) | Yes - The Carer’s checklist | CG |