Caregivers of Dementia Patients: Mental Health Screening & Support
Although accreditation for this CE/CME activity has expired, and the posttest is no longer available, you can still read the full article.
Expires May 31, 2017
Caregivers, mostly family and friends, play an important role in the complex care of persons with Alzheimer disease and other dementias. Primary care providers are uniquely positioned to assess for the negative consequences of caregiving, including depression, anxiety, and caregivers' failure to care for their own health needs. This article provides you with reliable, valid screening tools and recommendations for evidence-based interventions to increase the caregiver’s and patient’s quality of life and care.
Summary and conclusions
Extensive research on caregivers has focused on depression, burden of care, and self-care issues, with mixed findings. Gottlieb and colleagues report that caregivers struggle with the “apparent sadness, listlessness, and vegetative behavior” of their loved one struggling with AD.35 Primary care providers are in a pivotal position to improve caregivers’ health status using reliable and valid assessment tools and offerring referral to services that have been shown to help caregivers in their complex and challenging role.
Support groups, assistance with behavioral interventions, information about the disease process and effective interventions, medication for clinical depression, respite and day programs for persons with neurocognitive disorders, and encouragement of self-care all reduce caregiver stress. Offering effective interventions can improve the physical and mental health of burdened caregivers and positively impact the lives of their loved ones.
Given the growing number of caregivers and the significant effect of caregiving on their health, staying alert should be a priority in all practices. Simply adding two questions to those we regularly ask—Do you care for a loved one struggling with memory loss? How many hours a week do you provide care?—can illuminate the challenges caregivers face, so we can monitor their health status appropriately.
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