Citation: Herron, D.; Runacres, J. The Support Priorities of Older Carers of People Living with Dementia: A Nominal Group Technique Study. Healthcare 2023, 11, 1998. https:// doi.org/10.3390/healthcare11141998 Academic Editor: Akira Sekikawa Received: 4 June 2023 Revised: 6 July 2023 Accepted: 7 July 2023 Published: 11 July 2023 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/). healthcare Article The Support Priorities of Older Carers of People Living with Dementia: A Nominal Group Technique Study Daniel Herron 1, * and Jessica Runacres 2 1 Department of Psychology, Staffordshire University, Stoke-on-Trent ST4 2DF, UK 2 Department of Midwifery and Allied Health, Staffordshire University, Stafford ST18 0YB, UK; jessica.runacres@staffs.ac.uk * Correspondence: daniel.herron1@staffs.ac.uk Abstract: The aim of this study was to understand the support priorities of older (65+ years old) carers of people living with dementia. Two nominal group technique focus groups were carried out with older carers of people living with dementia. Twelve carers participated across two focus groups. Participants individually identified support priorities, and through several steps, reached a consensus to produce a ranked list of support priorities. The results consisted of two lists (one list per group), which when combined made up 15 support priorities. These priorities are presented alongside their overall and mean ranking. The authors did not refine these priorities after the focus groups, however, as there was overlap between priorities across the two liststhe results benefited from being themed. These overarching themes consisted of prioritising the carers’ holistic needs; having a sense of belonging; support needs to be accessible and timely; support to meet the wellbeing and personhood of the person living with dementia; and understanding and training for the wider community. These results have highlighted support priorities, developed by older carers, that services and organisations can use to better inform the support and services that older carers receive. Keywords: dementia; carer; nominal group technique 1. Introduction In the UK, there are approximately 700,000 unpaid carers who act as the bedrock of support for people living with dementia [1,2]. In this article, the term ‘carers’ is used to describe unpaid informal caregivers who support a family member or friend living with dementia; this may be as co-habitants or in the residence of the person living with dementia. These carers collectively provide 1.3 billion hours of unpaid care a year [1] and, in the process, save the UK economy GBP 13.9 billion [3]. Carers spend a significant amount of their time providing essential holistic support, with 36% of carers reporting that they provide over 100 hours of care per week [4]. Caregiving is likely to come with a range of positive and negative experiences which impact upon the carer’s own quality of life [5]. For example, carers of people living with dementia have described gaining a sense of achievement and meaningfulness through providing care [6], whilst others may see it as an opportunity to strengthen their relationship with the person living with dementia [5]. However, the increased dependence of the person living with dementia, prolonged caregiving, and the progressively worsening symptoms of dementia can cause significant strain on the carer’s own physical and mental health [7]. This can be further compounded by the deteriorating physical health of both the person living with dementia and the carer, who may experience increased morbidity [2,8]. Carers have reported a multitude of factors which result in a negative appraisal of their experiences. Lindeza et al. (2020) [5], through a systematic literature review, explored the influence of dementia caregiving on family carers. They found that carers reported experiencing negative emotions, such as stress, sadness, worry, and fear, associated with, Healthcare 2023, 11, 1998. https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare11141998 https://www.mdpi.com/journal/healthcare