EFFECTIVE CAREGIVING APPROACHES FOR PATIENTS WITH ALZHEIMERS-DISEASE

To address the need for nonpharmacologic approaches to managing diffic ult behaviors in patients with dementia, a repeated measures design wa s used to test the effectiveness of educational and behavioral interve ntion on behavioral and functional outcomes in home-dwelling patients with dementia and their caregivers' knowledge of dementia. Baseline an d a-month postintervention data were collected for 108 subjects (54 ca regiver/patient pairs) following random assignment to an intervention or comparison group. Findings included increases in caregiver knowledg e in two treatment groups and patient self-care ability in one treatme nt group and ratings of the most effective behavioral interventions by caregivers.