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61/100

✓ Peer-reviewed alzhub usefulness score 61 out of 100. Caregiving

Topic: Risk, prevention and care in population studies

Plain-language summary

A total of 31 studies were selected for this review, revealing six distinct categories of social support interventions for caregivers of older adults with dementia. These categories included peer support (n=7), counselling group intervention (n=2), health education (n=2), mindfulness-based stress reduction intervention (n=1), individual therapy (n=1) and multicomponent interventions (n=18). The findings indicate that these interventions significantly enhanced the social support available to caregivers, leading to positive outcomes such as reduced caregivers burden, anxiety, depression and improved coping skills. This review underscores the variety of interventions designed to enhance social support for caregivers of older adults with dementia. The findings provide valuable insights for caregivers, administrators and other stakeholders, emphasising the critical need to adopt and promote effective social support strategies for this population. TRIAL REGISTRATION DETAILS: A review protocol was registered on the OSF（Open Science Framework） registries, with the following registration doi: https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/D9C53.

Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris

APA 7th

Yuan, S., Zhang, F., Pu, L., Lv, J., Xie, X., Lin, L., et al. (2025). Social support interventions for caregivers of older adults with dementia: a scoping review. BMJ Open. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2024-095815

Vancouver

Yuan S, Zhang F, Pu L, Lv J, Xie X, Lin L, et al. Social support interventions for caregivers of older adults with dementia: a scoping review. BMJ Open. 2025. doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2024-095815. PMID: 40461148.

BibTeX

@article{yuan2025-40461148,
  author  = {Yuan, Shuai and Zhang, Fengying and Pu, Lihui and Lv, Juan and Xie, Xiaofeng and Lin, Lin and Qiu, Mengying and Huang, Lei and others},
  title   = {{Social support interventions for caregivers of older adults with dementia: a scoping review}},
  journal = {BMJ Open},
  year    = {2025},
  doi     = {10.1136/bmjopen-2024-095815},
  pmid    = {40461148},
  url     = {https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2024-095815}
}

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How to read this study

Design: this is a pooled review. It combines earlier studies, so it is only as good as the studies it pools. Check how many were included, whether they were similar enough to combine, and whether the authors report inconsistency between them.
Size: the record lists 31 participants. Ask whether that is enough for the question, and who they were.
Effect: the record gives no effect size, so the summary above cannot say how large any difference was.

What the evidence grade means here

This page is graded high. alzhub.org assigns the grade automatically from keywords in the abstract, not from reading the paper. High means the abstract mentions a randomized design, a meta-analysis or a systematic review. It can add at most 5 of the 100 points in the study score, and it is a label about design, not a verdict on whether the findings are true.

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Key findings

A total of 31 studies were selected for this review, revealing six distinct categories of social support interventions for caregivers of older adults with dementia.
These categories included peer support (n=7), counselling group intervention (n=2), health education (n=2), mindfulness-based stress reduction intervention (n=1), individual therapy (n=1) and multicomponent interventions (n=18).
The findings indicate that these interventions significantly enhanced the social support available to caregivers, leading to positive outcomes such as reduced caregivers burden, anxiety, depression and improved coping skills.
This review underscores the variety of interventions designed to enhance social support for caregivers of older adults with dementia.
The findings provide valuable insights for caregivers, administrators and other stakeholders, emphasising the critical need to adopt and promote effective social support strategies for this population.

Why it matters

This scoping review of 31 studies found that social support interventions for dementia caregivers, most commonly multicomponent ones, were linked to reduced burden, anxiety, and depression and improved coping skills. It describes a range of intervention types but does not compare their effectiveness.

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Study details

Study designmeta-analysis
Participants31
Evidence strengthHigh

How this study scored 61/100

Published in a peer-reviewed journal, and it is a meta-analysis pooling many studies. Scored zero for effect reported because the record does not state it.

Component	Points	Why
Journal tier	7 / 10	Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (BMJ Open)
Journal's citation record	2 / 4	BMJ Open: journal h-index 240 (OpenAlex, 2026-10-29)
Study design	12 / 12	A meta-analysis pooling many studies
Strength of evidence	5 / 5	Rated “high” in our summary
Peer-review validation	10 / 10	Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal.
How recent	4 / 5	2025 — within 3 year(s) of the newest study here
Sample size	1 / 4	31 participants
Effect reported	0 / 3	No effect size reported — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0)
Studied in people	3 / 3	Studied in people (participant count stated)
Randomized / blinded	0 / 2	A review of other studies — randomization is not credited here
Times cited	2 / 7	Cited 14 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10)
Citations per year	2 / 5	4.7 citations a year over 3 year(s) since 2025
Impact for its field and year	4 / 6	Cited 8.9× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI)
Cited by studies here	0 / 6	No other study in this library cites it
Still being cited	1 / 4	Cited 14 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex)
Senior author's track record	1 / 4	Last-listed author Liqin Wei: h-index 7 (OpenAlex, whole career)
Institution's track record	1 / 3	Erasmus MC: institution h-index 1,321 (OpenAlex)
Multicenter collaboration	2 / 3	OpenAlex lists 5 institution(s) in 2 countries
Indexed in PubMed	2 / 2	Indexed in PubMed (PMID 40461148)
Free to read	2 / 2	Free to read
Total	61 / 100	—

What each of these 20 components measures, and what this score is not →

Read the original

Full text: free to read — OpenAlex lists this copy as free to read: the link above (checked 6 Feb 1020).

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