What is desirable care in the opinion of formal and informal caregivers in nursing-home care for patients with dementia?

Aim: To examine care characteristics related to desirable care as reported by formal and informal caregivers in Dutch Psycho-geriatric nursing homes for patients with dementia.

Design: Qualitative exploratory study.

Methods: The sample consisted of four nursing homes. In each home, semi-structured interviews were conducted with a manager, a quality advisor or head nurse, a daily care supervisor and an informal caregiver. The findings were analysed by labelling and coding the text fragments.

Results: The 16 semi-structured interviews contained 60 discussion items. The 16 items that were shared by the four interviewee categories were clustered into the following six major themes: good quality of care; poor quality of care; elements of a vision; extra hands; bureaucracy; and formal caregivers.