Purpose: Although driving by persons with Alzheimer's disease (AD) is an important public health concern, we know little about the attitudes and perceptions of key stakeholders regarding driving safety in these individuals or the factors that precipitate and influence driving assessment and cessation decisions. Design and Methods: We convened 10…

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…

The validity and reliability of a novel route learning test were examined to assess the effectiveness of its use in evaluating spatial memory in healthy older adults and patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD). The Puget Sound Route Learning Test was significantly correlated with an existing measure of cognitive ability, the Dementia Rating Scale.…

The stages of life are now many, each having its own boundaries, logic, and a prescribed perspective of appropriate relations amongst and between members of the many stages. Just as there is a developing curriculum for the young, there is a developing curriculum in the area of elder care. Within the paradigm of staged human development, the end…

Explored the impact of dementia on family members' physical and mental health while caring for an ill parent/spouse. Severity of illness was significantly associated with health and well-being for spouses, offspring, and in-laws, regardless of the amount of caregiving. Demonstrates the potential cascading effect of severe illness. (RJM)

In 2004, the Women's Sports Foundation published the first edition of "Her Life Depends On It" (Don Sabo, Kathleen E. Miller, Merrill J. Melnick, and Leslie Heywood). At that time, it was clear that evidence-based research confirmed that regular physical activity and sport provides the critical foundation, in no small part, that allows girls and…

A major challenge to developing therapeutic interventions for cognitive loss and dementia in aging individuals with Down syndrome (DS) is the selection of appropriate outcome measures. This report describes the adaptation of the Brief Praxis Test (a nonverbal cognitive test) as a primary outcome measure, as well as the selection of secondary…

Purpose: Little is known about the specific behavioral strategies used by families to manage the physical dependency of persons with Alzheimer's disease and related disorders (ADRD). This study reports the psychometric properties of the Task Management Strategy Index (TMSI), a measure designed to identify actions taken by caregivers to simplify…