Whitlatch, Carol J.

Objective: Both caregivers and the older adults they care for can experience declines in quality of life (QOL) over the course of the dementia trajectory. Little research has examined QOL in African-American caregivers and even less in African-American persons with dementia (PWDs), making it difficult to identify associated factors.

Purpose: A randomized controlled trial was conducted to test the effectiveness of the Support, Health, Activities, Resources, and Education Program. This six-session psycho-educational program provides dyadic counseling for individuals in the early stages of dementia and their family caregivers.

Background and Objectives Persons with dementia (PWDs) often place greater importance on their care values (i.e. maintaining autonomy and social relations, choosing caregivers, avoiding being a burden) than family caregivers (CGs) perceive, which can detract from dementia care planning (e.g. care arrangements or surrogate decisions). Notable variability has been found across family care dyads (PWD and CG) in their perceptions of care values, suggesting that there may be multiple patterns of perception.

Background and Objectives: Meeting the unique and changing needs of individuals living with Alzheimer's disease and their family caregivers can be very challenging given the dynamic and often unpredictable nature of the disease. Effective programs are available to help families manage the challenges they will face. Research Design and Methods: This article first describes the educational, information, and support needs of individuals living dementia and their family caregivers across all stages of Alzheimer's.

Purpose: To gain a better understanding of how actual and perceived incongruence of care preferences affects the psychosocial well-being of persons with dementia and their family caregiver. Design and Methods: In-depth interviews were conducted with 128 dyads each consisting of a person with dementia and a family caregiver.

Objective: Many difficult decisions are made in the inpatient hospital setting regarding the daily care of persons with dementia (PWDs). Incongruent perceptions of the PWD's care values limit the family caregiver's ability to make surrogate decisions. The objectives of this pilot study were to describe and identify determinants of incongruent perceptions in the hospital setting. Methods: Using multilevel modeling (MLM), we examined cross-sectional data collected from 42 PWD-family caregiver dyads.

Purpose: This study examined the decision-making capacity of persons with cognitive impairment with respect to their everyday care preferences and choices.