This study examines the processing of a specific linguistic distinction, the mass/count distinction, in patients suffering from Alzheimer's disease (AD) and mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Fourteen AD and 10 MCI subjects were tested using a sentence grammaticality judgement task where grammaticality violations were caused by determiner--noun…

We examined the performance of a group of people with moderately severe Alzheimer's type dementia on a naming task. We found that functional information plays an important role in determining naming performance on both living and non-living things. Perceptual information may play some role in naming living things. We also found some evidence that…

The diagnosis of dementia in Alzheimer's disease remains at times problematic in adults with intellectual disability. The analysis of 5-year consecutive data developed a researched-based clinical screening tool for dementia in Alzheimer's disease in adults with Down syndrome. The Adaptive Behaviour Dementia Questionnaire (ABDQ) is a 15-item…

This study examined agreement between recipients and providers about social support and personality. One hundred daughter caregivers of a parent with Alzheimer's disease and each caregiver's most important support provider independently reported supportive behaviors provided to caregivers, the perceived supportiveness of the provider, and…

Background: The clinical and neuropathological features associated with dementia in Down's syndrome (DS) are not well established. Aims: To examine clinico-pathological correlations and the incidence of cognitive decline in a cohort of adults with DS. Method: A total of 92 hospitalized persons with DS were followed up from 1985 to December 2000.…

This book is designed to take caregivers through the basics of patient care and to give them the information needed to guide them through the medical, legal, and financial issues that accompany Alzheimer's disease. The seven chapters of the book cover the following topics: understanding Alzheimer's; caring for a caregiver; medical update; finances…

This article describes a comprehensive cognitive-linguistic intervention program for mild to moderate Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients that provided communication skills practice in the context of health-enhancing and esteem-building community-based activities, physical fitness training and supervised volunteer work. Effects for four participants…

Interviewed 11 caregivers for early-stage Alzheimer's patients to investigate changes in relationships concurrently with onset and progress of disease. Over 18 months, intimacy declined in both spouse and parent-child relationships. Caregivers were saddened at loss of reciprocal aspects of relationship and had difficulty coping with uncertain…

Assessed efficacy of home-based program of cognitive stimulation for functional status of patients with Alzheimer's disease and their caregivers. Compared treated caregiver/patient dyads with nontreated dyads. Results suggest that treated patients exhibited maintenance levels of cognitive and behavioral functioning and improved emotionally while…

Studied depression of family caregivers seeking help to increase coping skills (N=158) and volunteer non-help-seekers (N=58). Found depression among 46 percent of help-seekers and 18 percent of non-help-seekers. Found women more depressed than men but no major differences in depression for those caring for more impaired persons. (Author/CM)

Studied effects on family caregivers (N=208) of frail elderly persons of eight-week professionally guided caregiver support group program to reduce anxiety, depression, and sense of burden. Found significant reductions immediately after intervention and continued but weaker effects four months later. (Author/CM)

Examined nursing homes that have both special care units and traditional units to determine factors that cause homes to place cognitively impaired residents on specialized units. Wandering, other problem behaviors, and Medicaid status were not significant predictors of placement. Logistic regression results indicated that functional status was…

Interpreted results of needs assessment completed by active caregivers (n=58) and former caregivers (n=57) of relatives with Alzheimer's disease (AD). Results imply need for high-quality educational material throughout caregiving, improved training for health professionals about AD, and role for former caregivers as information resources.…

In-depth interviews with 30 sons actively involved in caring for a parent with dementia expand the understanding of sons' caregiving experiences. Common issues, and common themes of duty, acceptance, and taking charge emerged from the narratives. A typology of sons was generated. (Author/EMK)

Examines the Mandala (circular) drawings of elderly patients diagnosed with dementia in order to explore the drawings' role in artmaking and patients' internal processes. Categorized drawings using the MARI Card Test (a projective psychological instrument). Describes the six MARI stages drawn most frequently and colors used most often. (RJM)