Support for informal carers of older people in the transition to residential aged care: a scoping review protocol

Abstract

Objective: This review aims to identify support delivered to informal carers of older people making the transition into residential aged care, and to examine which specific outcome measures were used in the evaluation of the support provided.

Introduction: Little support is provided to informal carers of newly admitted aged care residents, both during the admission process and in the subsequent months. Mapping of the support delivered to informal carers of those admitted to a residential aged care facility is needed.

Inclusion criteria: We will include any form of support (eg, financial, psychological, social) provided to informal carers of people making the transition to residential aged care, from the time a decision is made to proceed with admission, up to 12 months post-admission.

Methods: We will search peer-reviewed literature in English from 2000 to the present from key databases (ie, MEDLINE, CINAHL, Cochrane Library, JBI Evidence Synthesis, PsycINFO, Embase, and Scopus). Additionally, gray literature will be searched through databases (eg, Google, Google Scholar, BASE, OpenGrey, Grey Literature Report, Informit, MedlinePlus, MedNar, Medscape), government websites, and websites of national organizations that provide support for the care of older people. We will use the JBI approach for search strategy, study selection, and data extraction, and will descriptively map the results using a textual narrative synthesis approach.