# Assessing Prevention Priorities in French Family Caregivers of the Elderly at Risk of Loss of Autonomy: Results from a Community Intervention on Diet

Claire Duga, Alexia Trottier, Carine Delayre-Orthez, Claude-Narcisse Niamba, Véronique Vincent, Julie Thomassin Branchu, Anne-Kathrin Illner

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## To cite this version:

Claire Duga, Alexia Trottier, Carine Delayre-Orthez, Claude-Narcisse Niamba, Véronique Vincent, et al.. Assessing Prevention Priorities in French Family Caregivers of the Elderly at Risk of Loss of Autonomy: Results from a Community Intervention on Diet. European Nutrition Conference, MDPI, pp.371, 2024, 10.3390/proceedings2023091371. [hal-04542584](https://hal-04542584)

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https://normandie-univ.hal.science/hal-04542584

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# Assessing Prevention Priorities in French Family Caregivers of the Elderly at Risk of Loss of Autonomy: Results from a Community Intervention on Diet

Claire Duga, Alexia Trottier, Carine Delayre-Orthez, Claude-Narcisse Niamba, Véronique Vincent, Julie Thomassin Branchu, Anne-Kathrin Illner

<figure><img src="image_1.png" /></figure>

## To cite this version:

Claire Duga, Alexia Trottier, Carine Delayre-Orthez, Claude-Narcisse Niamba, Véronique Vincent, et al.. Assessing Prevention Priorities in French Family Caregivers of the Elderly at Risk of Loss of Autonomy: Results from a Community Intervention on Diet. European Nutrition Conference, MDPI, pp.371, 2024, 10.3390/proceedings2023091371. [hal-04542584](https://hal-04542584)

HAL Id: hal-04542584

https://normandie-univ.hal.science/hal-04542584v1

Submitted on 3 Jun 2024

HAL is a multi-disciplinary open access
archive for the deposit and dissemination of sci-
entific research documents, whether they are pub-
lished or not. The documents may come from
teaching and research institutions in France or
abroad, or from public or private research centers.

L'archive ouverte pluridisciplinaire HAL, est
destinée au dépôt et à la diffusion de documents
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Distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
Abstract

# Assessing Prevention Priorities in French Family Caregivers of the Elderly at Risk of Loss of Autonomy: Results from a Community Intervention on Diet †

Claire Duga <fnref n="1" />,*, Alexia Trottier <fnref n="1" />, Claude-Narcisse Niamba <fnref n="1" />, Carine Delayre-Orthez <fnref n="1" />, Véronique Vincent <fnref n="2" />, Julie Thomassin Branchu <fnref n="1" /> and Anne-Kathrin Illner <fnref n="1" />

**Abstract:** Background and objectives: Population aging increases losses of autonomy, leading to 4.3 million French caregivers for elderly relatives in 2015. This challenging role can lead caregivers to neglect their own health, e.g., one in three carers die before their supported person. There are a lack of data on understanding health conditions and determinant factors in caregivers. The first phase of the 3-year community intervention project "AlimAidants" aimed to conduct a needs analysis to identify prevention priorities related to diet in family caregivers in the Oise region, France. Methods: The in-depth needs analysis collected information in seven categories, e.g., sociodemographic data of the caregiver and supported person, the support provided, impacts on health status and lifestyle, dietary behavior and consumption, and preferences for intervention types. A semi-quantitative self-administered questionnaire was disseminated in paper or digital formats to caregivers through a comprehensive regional network of professionals, associations, and social centers (n = 99) between February and June 2022. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and hierarchical cluster analysis with SPSS 28. Results: The response rate was 38,4% (n = 38). Caregivers were mostly women (71%) and were, on average, 59.7 (±12.6) years old. Briefly, 66% provided daily support, performing an average of 4.7 different tasks which impact multiple mental health parameters (61% perceived stress and anxiety, 58% perceived mental fatigue, and 55% perceived physical fatigue). A total of 63% were responsible for relatives' groceries and 56% were responsible for meal preparation. A total of 84% of caregivers were interested in prevention actions related to diet, e.g., preventing malnutrition (58%) or quick meals (71%). No difference in snacking behavior was determined. Three distinct profiles of caregivers were identified: young carers who balance their role with their personal life, retired and overburdened but highly motivated caregivers, and retired isolated caregivers whose mental health is severely impacted. The preferred formats varied according to the caregiver's professional situation: digital and offline sessions for the employed and face-to-face workshops for retirees. Discussion: The results show the diversity in health conditions and determinant factors of caregivers, particularly regarding mental health status. This implies a need for personalized prevention actions related to diet which are flexible in format and time, e.g., participative workshops, webinars, videos on social networks, and conferences.

**Keywords:** caregivers; prevention; community intervention; diet; loss of autonomy

**Author Contributions:** Conceptualization, C.D., A.-K.I. and J.T.B.; methodology, C.D., A.-K.I., J.T.B. and A.T.; software, C.D.-O. and C.-N.N.; validation, A.-K.I. and C.D.-O.; formal analysis, C.D.-O. and

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<footnote n="1">¹ PANASH Team, ULR 7519, Polytechnic Institute UniLaSalle, University of Artois, 60026 Beauvais Cedex, France; alexia.trottier@etu.unilasalle.fr (A.T.); narcisse.niamba@unilasalle.fr (C.-N.N.); carine.delayre@unilasalle.fr (C.D.-O.); julie.branchu@unilasalle.fr (J.T.B.); anne-kathrin.illner@unilasalle.fr (A.-K.I.)</footnote>

<footnote n="2">² Conference of funders for the prevention of loss of autonomy in Oise, 60024 Beauvais Cedex, France; veronique.vincent@oise.fr</footnote>

<footnote>* Correspondence: claire.duga@unilasalle.fr</footnote>

<footnote>† Presented at the 14th European Nutrition Conference FENS 2023, Belgrade, Serbia, 14–17 November 2023.</footnote>
Abstract

# Assessing Prevention Priorities in French Family Caregivers of the Elderly at Risk of Loss of Autonomy: Results from a Community Intervention on Diet †

Claire Duga <fnref n="1" />,*, Alexia Trottier <fnref n="1" />, Claude-Narcisse Niamba <fnref n="1" />, Carine Delayre-Orthez <fnref n="1" />, Véronique Vincent <fnref n="2" />, Julie Thomassin Branchu <fnref n="1" /> and Anne-Kathrin Illner <fnref n="1" />

**Abstract:** Background and objectives: Population aging increases losses of autonomy, leading to 4.3 million French caregivers for elderly relatives in 2015. This challenging role can lead caregivers to neglect their own health, e.g., one in three carers die before their supported person. There are a lack of data on understanding health conditions and determinant factors in caregivers. The first phase of the 3-year community intervention project "AlimAidants" aimed to conduct a needs analysis to identify prevention priorities related to diet in family caregivers in the Oise region, France. Methods: The in-depth needs analysis collected information in seven categories, e.g., sociodemographic data of the caregiver and supported person, the support provided, impacts on health status and lifestyle, dietary behavior and consumption, and preferences for intervention types. A semi-quantitative self-administered questionnaire was disseminated in paper or digital formats to caregivers through a comprehensive regional network of professionals, associations, and social centers (n = 99) between February and June 2022. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and hierarchical cluster analysis with SPSS 28. Results: The response rate was 38,4% (n = 38). Caregivers were mostly women (71%) and were, on average, 59.7 (±12.6) years old. Briefly, 66% provided daily support, performing an average of 4.7 different tasks which impact multiple mental health parameters (61% perceived stress and anxiety, 58% perceived mental fatigue, and 55% perceived physical fatigue). A total of 63% were responsible for relatives' groceries and 56% were responsible for meal preparation. A total of 84% of caregivers were interested in prevention actions related to diet, e.g., preventing malnutrition (58%) or quick meals (71%). No difference in snacking behavior was determined. Three distinct profiles of caregivers were identified: young carers who balance their role with their personal life, retired and overburdened but highly motivated caregivers, and retired isolated caregivers whose mental health is severely impacted. The preferred formats varied according to the caregiver's professional situation: digital and offline sessions for the employed and face-to-face workshops for retirees. Discussion: The results show the diversity in health conditions and determinant factors of caregivers, particularly regarding mental health status. This implies a need for personalized prevention actions related to diet which are flexible in format and time, e.g., participative workshops, webinars, videos on social networks, and conferences.

**Keywords:** caregivers; prevention; community intervention; diet; loss of autonomy

**Author Contributions:** Conceptualization, C.D., A.-K.I. and J.T.B.; methodology, C.D., A.-K.I., J.T.B. and A.T.; software, C.D.-O. and C.-N.N.; validation, A.-K.I. and C.D.-O.; formal analysis, C.D.-O. and

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**Citation:** Duga, C.; Trottier, A.; Niamba, C.-N.; Delayre-Orthez, C.; Vincent, V.; Branchu, J.T.; Illner, A.-K. Assessing Prevention Priorities in French Family Caregivers of the Elderly at Risk of Loss of Autonomy: Results from a Community Intervention on Diet. *Proceedings 2023*, 91, 371. https://doi.org/10.3390/proceedings2023091371

Academic Editors: Sladjana Sobajic and Philip Calder

Published: 27 February 2024

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**Copyright:** © 2023 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

<footnote n="1">¹ PANASH Team, ULR 7519, Polytechnic Institute UniLaSalle, University of Artois, 60026 Beauvais Cedex, France; alexia.trottier@etu.unilasalle.fr (A.T.); narcisse.niamba@unilasalle.fr (C.-N.N.); carine.delayre@unilasalle.fr (C.D.-O.); julie.branchu@unilasalle.fr (J.T.B.); anne-kathrin.illner@unilasalle.fr (A.-K.I.)</footnote>

<footnote n="2">² Conference of funders for the prevention of loss of autonomy in Oise, 60024 Beauvais Cedex, France; veronique.vincent@oise.fr</footnote>

<footnote>* Correspondence: claire.duga@unilasalle.fr</footnote>

<footnote>† Presented at the 14th European Nutrition Conference FENS 2023, Belgrade, Serbia, 14–17 November 2023.</footnote>
C.-N.N.; investigation, C.D.-O., A.-K.I. and J.T.B.; resources, C.D.-O. and V.V.; data curation, C.D.-O., C.-N.N. and A.-K.I.; writing—original draft preparation, C.D.-O. and A.-K.I.; writing—review and editing, C.D.-O. and A.-K.I.; visualization, C.D.-O. supervision, A.-K.I.; project administration, A.-K.I. and V.V.; funding acquisition, A.-K.I. and J.T.B. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

**Funding:** This research was funded by Conference of funders for the prevention of loss of autonomy in Oise grant number B37B0303 And The APC was funded by FENS (conference organization).

**Institutional Review Board Statement:** Not applicable.

**Informed Consent Statement:** Informed consent was obtained from all subjects involved in the study.

**Data Availability Statement:** Data sharing is not applicable.

**Conflicts of Interest:** The authors declare no conflict of interest.

**Disclaimer/Publisher's Note:** The statements, opinions and data contained in all publications are solely those of the individual author(s) and contributor(s) and not of MDPI and/or the editor(s). MDPI and/or the editor(s) disclaim responsibility for any injury to people or property resulting from any ideas, methods, instructions or products referred to in the content.
C.-N.N.; investigation, C.D.-O., A.-K.I. and J.T.B.; resources, C.D.-O. and V.V.; data curation, C.D.-O., C.-N.N. and A.-K.I.; writing—original draft preparation, C.D.-O. and A.-K.I.; writing—review and editing, C.D.-O. and A.-K.I.; visualization, C.D.-O. supervision, A.-K.I.; project administration, A.-K.I. and V.V.; funding acquisition, A.-K.I. and J.T.B. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

**Funding:** This research was funded by Conference of funders for the prevention of loss of autonomy in Oise grant number B37B0303 And The APC was funded by FENS (conference organization).

**Institutional Review Board Statement:** Not applicable.

**Informed Consent Statement:** Informed consent was obtained from all subjects involved in the study.

**Data Availability Statement:** Data sharing is not applicable.

**Conflicts of Interest:** The authors declare no conflict of interest.

**Disclaimer/Publisher's Note:** The statements, opinions and data contained in all publications are solely those of the individual author(s) and contributor(s) and not of MDPI and/or the editor(s). MDPI and/or the editor(s) disclaim responsibility for any injury to people or property resulting from any ideas, methods, instructions or products referred to in the content.