Question: In adult carers of people with dementia, how effective are carer education groups, compared to any other intervention, in improving patient and caregiver outcomes?

Answer:

Plain language summary

A small amount of evidence found that group education has a positive impact on carers' ability to cope with challenging behaviour from the person with dementia that they care for and on their own emotional functioning. However, the studies with the best methodology found no difference in carer functioning and coping when group education was compared to standard care.

Clinical and research implications 

There is some very limited evidence that group educational interventions may have a small positive effect on carers' emotional functioning and their ability to cope with challenging behaviour in people with dementia. However, it should be noted that the only generally well conducted study included in this summary found no difference in effectiveness between the educational intervention evaluated and standard care.

None of the studies included in this assessment found evidence of any effect of group educational interventions for carers upon patient outcomes.

Further research evaluating standardised group educational interventions, where components and goals are clearly defined, may be useful.

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