The family involvement in care (FIC) study: A snapshot of partnership intervention outcomes for family and staff caregivers in residential dementia care

The Family Involvement in Care (FIC) model has been developed and implemented in Northern America with successful family and staff caregiver outcomes. The aim of this partial replication pilot study was to implement and evaluate the family/staff partnership model and test its success in the Australian context. Methods: The four step education intervention protocol aimed to develop cooperative roles between family and residential staff caregivers based on negotiation of therapeutic activities for the resident with dementia. The sample for this controlled trial study consisted of 57 family and 58 staff caregivers of residents with moderate to severe dementia across a control and intervention site. Between group and within group effects were analysed using ANOVAS at <0.05 level of significance. Results: Pre test comparisons showed no significant group differences in stress or satisfaction measures for families and staff. Post test family measures indicated decreased satisfaction with management effectiveness [t(29) ¼ 2.64, p<.05] and with staff caregivers [t(55) ¼ 2.18, p<.05] compared to the control site. Post test staff measures showed increases in staff stress due to residents’ inappropriate behavior [t(30) ¼ -2.10, p<.05].and perceived lack of organizational resources available to care for the residents, compared to the control site [t(56) ¼ -3.71, p<.01].