Alzheimer's disease

Alzheimer's disease and related dementias (ADRD) affect over 5 million Americans. Over a typical disease course of 5-10 years, family caregivers provide the majority of the day-to-day hands-on on care for persons with dementia. Most caregivers enter this complex role with little training and inadequate household resources and they are tasked to navigate a fragmented health care system as well as a patchwork of community services. Our nation can and should do more to help family caregivers provide care in the home to their loved ones who suffer from dementia.

Background A person suffering from dementia needs increasing help from another person, who, in most cases, is a female family member. Times are changing and this traditional role can no longer be maintained. Aim The aim of this research was mainly centred on ascertaining the profile of caregivers and to find out how determinants such as age, sex and educational level and living conditions led people to assume that role.

Background A person suffering from dementia needs increasing help from another person, who, in most cases, is a female family member. Times are changing and this traditional role can no longer be maintained. Aim The aim of this research was mainly centred on ascertaining the profile of caregivers and to find out how determinants such as age, sex and educational level and living conditions led people to assume that role.

The purpose of this study was to describe the QoL of patients with AD (PAD) as perceived by family caregivers, and to analyze the correlates of such QoL. This study covered 92 PAD enrolled in a cognitive-motor stimulation study. The severity of cognitive impairment ranged from mild cognitive impairment to severe dementia. QoL was measured using the AD-related quality of life (ADRQL) scale. Social and clinical variables (for both PAD and caregiver) as well as other variables relating to cognition, activities of daily living (ADL), behavior, mood and caregiver burden were recorded.

Informal carers of people with Alzheimer's disease require access to high-quality information, which may be available through the Internet. Tools that have been developed to evaluate the contents of health-related web sites tend to be generic and not specific for diseases or patient groups. The aim of this study was to develop a tool that was specifically designed to evaluate web sites that provide information about Alzheimer's disease for informal carers of people with the disease. The tool was used to evaluate a sample of 15 web sites.

Over the last 30 years, the life expectancy of people with Down syndrome has increased dramatically. Significant medical advances have allowed affected persons to be seen more in the hospital setting, making it imperative that nurses understand their health care needs in order to provide positive health outcomes.