Components of case management in caring for patients with dementia: a mixed-methods study.
Desirée Jerez-Barranco, Laura Gutiérrez-Rodríguez, Juan Carlos Morilla-Herrera, Magdalena Cuevas Fernandez-Gallego, Remedios Rojano-Perez, María Dolores Camuñez-Gomez, José Luis Sanchez-Del Campo, Silvia García-Mayor
Author Information
Desirée Jerez-Barranco: Faculty of Health Sciences, Department of Nursing (Spain), University of Málaga, C/Arquitecto Francisco Peñalosa, 3, Campus Universitario de Teatinos, 29071, Málaga, Spain.
Laura Gutiérrez-Rodríguez: Faculty of Health Sciences, Department of Nursing (Spain), University of Málaga, C/Arquitecto Francisco Peñalosa, 3, Campus Universitario de Teatinos, 29071, Málaga, Spain. Laura_gr@uma.es.
Juan Carlos Morilla-Herrera: Faculty of Health Sciences, Department of Nursing (Spain), University of Málaga, C/Arquitecto Francisco Peñalosa, 3, Campus Universitario de Teatinos, 29071, Málaga, Spain.
Magdalena Cuevas Fernandez-Gallego: Faculty of Health Sciences, Department of Nursing (Spain), University of Málaga, C/Arquitecto Francisco Peñalosa, 3, Campus Universitario de Teatinos, 29071, Málaga, Spain.
Remedios Rojano-Perez: Andalusian Health Service, District Málaga-Guadalhorce, Málaga, Spain.
María Dolores Camuñez-Gomez: Andalusian Health Service, District Málaga-Guadalhorce, Málaga, Spain.
José Luis Sanchez-Del Campo: Andalusian Health Service, District Málaga-Guadalhorce, Málaga, Spain.
Silvia García-Mayor: Faculty of Health Sciences, Department of Nursing (Spain), University of Málaga, C/Arquitecto Francisco Peñalosa, 3, Campus Universitario de Teatinos, 29071, Málaga, Spain.
BACKGROUND: Case management has shown improvements in some health outcomes for dementiapatients and their families. However, despite its benefits the components of case management in order to provide effective patient and family care remain unknown at present. Thus, the aim of this study is to identify the specific components of case management in caring for patients with dementia and to determine the necessary intensity of its deployment to enhance outcomes for these patients and their caregivers. METHODS: Mixed-methods study with a qualitative phase to characterise forms of service provision, according to the case management components involved, followed by a quantitative phase to analyse the correlations between different patterns of service provision, adverse events in patients and caregiver overload. This study will be based on the variables described in the RANGE.COM register. DISCUSSION: This research is expected to achieve a reproducible, evaluable set of interventions that can be modelled to optimise case management effectiveness for patients with dementia. Interactions between patients with dementia, their family caregivers and case management healthcare services, the components of these interactions and their association with the conditions of the individuals concerned are issues of great interest in the field of case management, which is constantly evolving.
