DISCOVERING LIFE QUALITY IN COPING WITH DEMENTIA

Using qualitative techniques, data were obtained from 20 informants co mprising 10 caregiving dyads-that is, the caregiver and the spouse dia gnosed with possible or probable Alzheimer's disease in the mild to mo derate stages. Processes were identified in caregiving reactions and i nteractions during implementation of a cognitive remediation intervent ion designed to disrupt the trajectory of decline in dementia. Of inte rest was the impact of the implementation process on both the Alzheime r-diagnosed care recipient and the caregiver; as individuals and as a dyad. A four-phase process model of discovering life quality was delin eated through analysis of log recordings, interviews and observational notes, and written evaluative responses of the families. The phases t hat emerged from the data address movement from an initial state of de pleted interaction to a regaining of familial life quality.