DEVELOPMENT AND VALIDATION OF THE NEEDS INVENTORY FOR CAREGIVERS OF THE HOSPITALIZED ELDERLY

As the population continues to age, more and more families are faced w ith caring for aging family members and the concurrent increase in str ess and needs brought about by hospitalization of the aging family mem ber: The social service staff at Wesley Woods Geriatric Hospital wishe d to evaluate their services and explore the impact of a family confer ence conducted by a social worker/registered nurse ream on the needs e xperienced by tile family members of patients in psychiatry and neurop sychiatry units. A search of the current literature, however; revealed a lack of reliable and valid instruments designed ro measure the perc eived needs of caregivers of hospitalized geriatric patients. Therefor e, the development of an instrument that could measure the perceived p sychoeducational needs of such caregivers was undertaken. The Needs In ventory for Caregivers of Hospitalized Elders (NICHE) was field-tested and support for the instrument's validity and reliability was found.