This guide on Alzheimer's disease is for those who care for Alzheimer's patients, as well as those who want to learn more about the disease. It answers these questions: (1) what is Alzheimer's? (2) how does the disease progress and how long does it last? (3) how do families cope? and (4) who can provide assistance and information? The guide also…

Used daily experience survey to distinguish patterns of stress among 21 elderly individuals providing home care to spouse or parent with Alzheimer's disease and comparison group of 20 elderly noncaregivers. Found that life circumstances influenced stress perception in daily life. Caregivers and noncaregivers differed in types of experiences they…

Primary caregivers (n=41) of memory-impaired patients rated a standardized stimulus of depression and their actual patient. They were able to correctly identify depression in both. Further, their mood was unassociated with video ratings and only moderately associated with patient ratings. The findings support reliance on caregiver input.…

Collected weekly ratings of events and appraisals from 19 caregivers of demented patients and 19 control subjects over 4 weeks. Caregivers reported more negative events overall and rated them as more undesirable than did controls, but significant differences were found in events of only 2 of 11 life areas measured. (Author/NB)

Studied frequency, nature, context, and caregivers' reactions to aggressive behavior in 213 demented patients. Found aggression in 57.2 percent of patients and 10.6 percent of caregivers. Predictors of patient aggression were greater frequency of behavior and memory problems, premorbid aggression, and more troubled premorbid social relationship…

Outlines rationale for the Alzheimer's Disease Support Center (ADSC), a telecomputing-based project designed to provide information and support to caregivers of persons with dementia. Describes ADSC's context, structure, content, and operation. Notes that inherent features of telecomputing make computer-mediated information and support systems…

Interviewed 88 family caregivers concerning experience with medical care of demented relatives. Most caregivers expressed overall satisfaction with services. Greatest dissatisfaction was expressed in regard to receiving insufficient information about dementia; fewest concerns were expressed about inappropriate physician control. Families reported…

Longitudinal 2-year study compared self and family members' reports of physical and functional health among 40 Alzheimer's disease patients and 53 age-matched nondemented healthy older persons. Functional health was consistently rated as more impaired by family caregivers of demented patients than by patients themselves, discrepancy not seen in…

Interviewed 50 older women who were caring at home for a husband suffering from dementia. Examined patient's illness, marital relationship, cognitive age and a variety of socio-demographic variables. Tested hypothesis that it is important for wives to care for sick husbands to maintain their own sense of well-being. (Author/BHK)

Asked 30 families who cared for family member with Alzheimer's disease to provide narratives of daily care over 18 months. Found that different family members experienced their relationship with Alzheimer's disease patient to be continuous, continuous but transformed, or radically discontinuous with their relationship prior to the disease.…

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)

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)