A longitudinal study of home care clients and their informal carers.

The objective of the longitudinal study was to monitor physical and cognitive changes in a population of 330 older people being supported at home by health services. The participants were 75 years and older and classified as having moderate-to-high needs. A total of 210 primary informal carers were recruited to determine their specific needs and how they coped as dependency levels of their care-recipients changed.

Assessing cognitive impairment in older people: the Watson clock drawing test.

A non-random sample of 331 community-based clients aged 75 years and over, who were being cared for at home, were involved in a longitudinal study to assess cognitive impairment (CI). The clock drawing test (CDT) using the Watson et al (1993) scoring protocol was used to determine its utility as a tool for community nurses to assess CI. In the first phase of the study, 294 CDTs were used in analysis and 58.