THE HOME-ENVIRONMENT MODIFICATION PROGRAM IN THE CARE OF DEMENTED ELDERLY - SOME EXAMPLES

The aim of the study was to assess and adapt home environment to the n eeds of demented patients, before their discharge from our special car e unit (SCU) for Alzheimer disease and related disorders. The project isa part of a larger study named ''Technology, Ethics and Dementia'' ( TED), supported by the European Community. The research will evaluate the ethical issues involved in adopting technological solutions in the care of demented elderly. The program of the home environment evaluat ion and modification is described. Results pertaining to 26 demented p atients and to their households, concerning the more frequently occurr ing specific problems, are presented. The data highlight the associati on between executive skills and functioning in basic activities of dai ly living. Practical examples are illustrated as a demonstration of wh at was achieved within the home environment modification program. The work plan related to these examples is set in terms of intervention, a im and goal and generalized solution. The interventions are always the product of a negotiation between the different needs expressed by the actors involved in the so-called social triangle of care, namely the patient, the informal carer and the formal carer.