Berlin Inventory of Caregiving Stress - Dementia (BICS-D)
Overview
The quality of life of people with dementia and their caring relatives is inextricably linked. Systematic and forward-looking support for caregivers forms the basis for the stability of the home care situation and the well-being of both caregivers and patients.
The aim of the longitudinal study on the burden of caring relatives of dementia patients (LEANDER) sponsored by the Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth was to improve quality assurance in care for the elderly. The situation of the caring relatives of people suffering from dementia was assessed on the basis of stress theory and in a differentiated manner on almost 900 affected persons. The aim was to determine differences in the care-related burden depending on the central characteristics of the care situation (e.g. gender, kinship, stage of dementia) in order to develop intervention measures tailored to needs. The study was led by Prof. Dr. Susanne Zank & Dr. Claudia Schacke and was initially conducted at the Free University of Berlin and later continued at the University of Siegen.
Scientific Version
In the first phase of the project, a standardised questionnaire based on stress theory was developed which, due to its high ability to differentiate and its sensitivity to change, is particularly suitable for mapping the strain on carers and for recording the effectiveness of relief offers for carers' relatives. This is the Berlin Inventory of Relative Stress - Dementia (BIZA-D). Due to its scientific quality, this extensive inventory is particularly suitable for research purposes and is now used in numerous studies in German-speaking countries (Zank, Schacke & Leipold, 2006).
In the further course of the project, the effects of the critical life event "assumption of care of a dementia patient" in middle and high adulthood were documented at five survey points every nine months over a total period of 36 months. Different stress profiles of the carers (spouse, children of the patients), the mapping of changes over time, effects on mental and physical well-being as well as the evaluation of interventions were the results of this project.
Practice version
In the third phase of LEANDER, a procedure was developed which enables the assessment of typical risks for caring relatives of people with dementia resulting from the care burden (Schacke & Zank, 2009). With the help of a practical version of the Berlin Inventory of Relatives Exposure to Dementia (BICS-D-PV), facilities that advise, accompany and relieve relatives are given the opportunity:
- assess the individual risk of depression of the caregiver, violence in care and the collapse of the home care situation;
- to make a simple and yet scientifically sound assessment of the effectiveness of one's own work.
Downloads (German)
Other scales developed in LEANDER: Potentially harmful behavior & caregivers´ coping (german, pdf)