Living alone with dementia

This report describes a population of individuals with dementia living alon e in the community. Data were collected as part of the Canadian Study of He alth and Aging (CSHA). We found that one third of the subjects in the CSHA sample with a dementia residing in the community lived alone. Whether their identified informal caregiver had thought about institutionalization was a n important factor in actual short-term (2-year) institutionalization and a ppeared to be influenced by living arrangements. Caregivers of those living alone provided less hands-on assistance, experienced less burden, and were less likely to be depressed than those living with the demented person, bu t were more likely to have considered institutionalization. Presumably, thi s was driven by concerns about safety and support. How to support the growi ng numbers of individuals with dementia living alone in the community will be a significant challenge. Copyright (C) 1999 S. Karger AG, Basel.