Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a threat to the individual and marital integrity of couples as the relationship is called upon to evolve into a caregiver-patient one. In Quebec (Canada), there are currently very few services offered in which these couples can participate together as a couple. In a qualitative multi-case study, five couples had the…

The impact of public participants in data analysis has been reported, but there is little research on public involvement of analysis of naturally occurring interactional data. Four video recordings of clinicians from out of hours primary care services visiting care home residents with dementia were analysed in data sessions involving 12 people…

Purpose: Speech perception in noise becomes difficult with age but can be facilitated by audiovisual (AV) speech cues and sentence context in healthy older adults. However, individuals with Alzheimer's disease (AD) may present with deficits in AV integration, potentially limiting the extent to which they can benefit from AV cues. This study…

Purpose: To test the effects of different self-efficacy beliefs on caregiver appraisals and depressive symptoms. We hypothesized that self-efficacy has a direct effect on depression while moderating the effects of behavioral problems on both negative (i.e., burden) and positive (i.e., uplifting) appraisals. Design and Methods: Ninety-nine Chinese…

Background: Research addressing the experiences of families of adults with Down syndrome and Alzheimer's disease in seeking diagnosis and gaining support is limited. The aim of this study was to gain a greater understanding of these processes by exploring the experiences of families and carers in supporting people with Down syndrome and…

Caregivers play a determining role in choosing treatments for persons with Alzheimer's disease. The objective of this study was to examine caregivers' willingness to have persons with Alzheimer's disease continue taking cholinesterase inhibitors in the event that any 1 of 11 adverse effects was to occur. Data were gathered via postal questionnaire…

Interviewed five caregiving nursing staff members involved in dementia care concerning their ambivalent feelings toward spoon-feeding a severely demented patient. Although tube-feeding was regarded as an easier way to provide nourishment, spoon-feeding was preferred because it provided more human contact and love. (Author/NB)

Caregivers (n=158) from Swedish nursing home rated severely demented person as painful, apathetic, suffering, weak, afraid, sad, cold, dark, rough, and ugly. Four years later, comparable group of 93 caregivers answered revised questionnaire. Results were nearly identical to first administration. (Author/NB)

Interviewed two expert caregivers about their experiences of caring for severely demented patients. Ethical reasoning, exemplified by tender descriptions of relatedness to patients, indicated that expert caregivers used sound knowledge combined with imagination, empathy, and intuition to grasp situation, where patient is regarded as person with…

Swedish nurse trainees (n=18) each followed a dementia patient through their training period. Themes emerged related to trainees' role as a personal guide. Creating a relationship with the patient and seeing the patient as a teacher were instructive experiences. (SK)

This study examines the caregiving networks of older adults, with particular emphasis on differences according to cognitive status (n = 303). Individuals with cognitive impairment were significantly more likely than those who were cognitively intact to receive assistance with personal care, linking with the outside world, and mobility. The types…

This paper presents a needs analysis conducted to obtain information concerning online dementia care training of healthcare workers in long-term care (LTC) facilities. The resulting information was used to guide the development of an online dementia care training program designed to facilitate the acquisition of skills and knowledge necessary for…

Video-recorded seven demented Finnish immigrants during morning care together with bilingual and monolingual Swedish-speaking caregivers. Showed bilingual caregivers communicated more multidimensionally with patients. Found that even if monolingual interaction started in a positive manner, it became negative when parties realized they could not…

The Saskatchewan Mood Inventory (SMI) is a caregiver-focused assessment and research tool that was designed to enhance understanding of the emotional experiences of individuals with dementia and to identify relationships between level of cognitive impairment and family member ratings of pleasant and unpleasant emotional responses during daily…

An Ontario study of 68 caregivers of persons with Alzheimer's disease revealed that those respondents living in more remote areas of northwestern Ontario expressed greater needs for information, education, and social support; experienced significantly more difficulties with morale; and employed coping strategies that reflected an inadequate social…