Adult day centre respite care: research design of a study to assess the efficacy of caregiver respite

Persons diagnosed with dementia have been recognized as a client group within Northern Health that requires specialized care. Care is currently provided through long-term care case management, residential complex care and assisted living, home support, adult day centres, in-home and facility respite, and in the client's home by family members and private caregivers. With an aging population predictive of an increased number of dementia clients, Northern Health recognizes that the current methods of providing care may not be sufficient to sustain clients and caregivers in the future. This project designs a study that examines the effects of respite care for dementia clients on the burden felt by their caregivers. It is hypothesized that mean scores of caregiver burden reported by primary informal caregivers of dementia clients, as measured by the Zarit Burden Interview, will be lower for members of the treatment group (consisting of caregivers utilizing the respite services of the Rainbow Adult Day Centre) than for members of the control group (consisting of caregivers who are not utilizing the respite services of the Rainbow Adult Day Centre).