Longitudinal comparison of depression, coping, and turnover among NHS and private sector staff caring for people with dementia

doi:10.1136/bmj.322.7289.769

BMJ 2001;322:769-770 ( 31 March )

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Longitudinal comparison of depression, coping, and turnover among NHS and private sector staff caring for people with dementia

M Margallo-Lana, specialist registrar in old age psychiatry ^a, K Reichelt, assistant psychologist ^b, P Hayes, assistant general manager ^c, L Lee, home manager ^d, J Fossey, consultant clinical psychologist ^e, J O'Brien, professor of old age psychiatry ^b, C Ballard, professor of old age psychiatry ^f.

^a Bensham Hospital, Gateshead, Tyne and Wear NE8 4YL, ^b Institute for the Health of the Elderly, Wolfson Research Centre, Newcastle General Hospital, Newcastle upon Tyne NE4 6BE, ^c Neurorehabilitation and Elderly Programme, Newcastle General Hospital, ^d Dene Lodge Nursing Home, Denton Burn, Newcastle upon Tyne NE15 7SX, ^e Fulbrook Centre, Churchill Hospital, Oxford OX3 7LJ, ^f MRC Neurochemical Pathology Unit, Newcastle General Hospital

Correspondence to: C Ballard c.g.ballard@ncl.ac.uk

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

Relatives caring for people with dementia show high levels of psychological distress and depression.¹ However, the psychologicalhealth of staff in private and NHS care facilities for peoplewith dementia has not been evaluated. Staff turnover is oftenhigh in these facilities, and mental health could be a contributoryfactor.

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Active coping strategies reduce depression and psychological distress in family caregivers,² and the same could be truefor professional carers. We compared the prevalence of psychologicaldistress among professional staff in private sector and NHS facilitiesand assessed the relation with coping strategies and rates ofstaffturnover.

Participants, methods, and results

We measured emotional wellbeing (28 item general health questionnaire) and the use of positive coping strategies (active coping,planning, seeking social support, positive reinterpretation, andacceptance-COPE³) in the care staff of private sector residentialor nursing homes and NHS continuing care facilities. All nineprivate facilities with over 30 residents within two catchment. . . [Full text of this article]

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