The impact of residential respite care on the behaviour of older people with dementia: literature review.

Aim.  The aim of this review was to examine the impact of residential respite care on the behaviour displayed by older people with dementia. Background.  Relocation of older people with dementia to a different care setting could have a negative impact on their behaviour. If such a response is anticipated, a short-term admission to a residential aged care facility for respite care would appear to be futile for the older person and their home caregiver. Therefore, it is important to know what the outcomes of residential respite care are in relation to behaviour for older people with dementia. Methods.  A literature search was undertaken and papers emerged from a range of disciplines. The search terms 'respite'; 'respite care'; 'residential respite care'; 'short-stay', 'short-term', 'overnight stays/admissions', 'behav*' and various combinations of these terms were used to find relevant publications in English from Ageline, CINAHL, Medline and, Psychinfo databases dating from 1966. Other key publications were located when searching through the reference lists of retrieved publications. A limited body of literature on residential respite care for older people with dementia was revealed. Results.  Six studies were identified, which met the criteria of residential respite care as the intervention and behaviour as an outcome. Conclusions.  The studies had a variety of methodological limitations and produced contradictory findings. The strength of the studies was the reporting of outcomes for respite recipients who are usually overlooked in the outcomes for respite research. Relevance to clinical practice.  Residential respite care has great anecdotal support but more empirical and evaluative research is needed on outcomes for the respite recipients.