Family-based therapy for dementia caregivers: clinical observations

Family caregiving for dementia patients is a major social and clinical prob lem. Family caregivers face major stressful emotional, social and economic burdens, and the negative consequences associated with caregiving are well documented. Given the projected increase in the number of people with demen tia, there is a need to identify approaches that will help families manage the challenges of caregiving. Social support from friends and family member s has consistently been found to mediate caregiver outcomes, yet many careg ivers face problems with isolation and estrangement from family members. In this regard, family-based therapy is a promising intervention for increasi ng social support for caregivers, and enhancing their quality of life and a bility to provide care. This paper will discuss how family-based therapy ca n be applied as an intervention for family caregivers of dementia patients. The clinical implications of specific interactional patterns will be prese nted via case examples from an ongoing clinical trial with white American a nd Cuban American caregivers of dementia patients. The intent is to demonst rate how identification of interactional patterns is a valuable tool for im plementing family-based interventions.