Dementia caregiving: The role of the primary care physician

Background: Family and friends play an important role in caring for individ uals with dementia living in the community, In preparation for the Canadian Consensus Conference on Dementia held in Montreal, Canada in February 1998 , the subject of dementia caregiving was reviewed in order to provide prima ry care physicians with some guidelines for their practice, The review was updated in June 2000 in preparation for this article. Method: Pertinent Eng lish-language publications and resources from the Alzheimer Society of Cana da were reviewed from 1985 onwards. Findings related to the consequences of caregiving, services for caregivers and recommendations regarding the role of the primary care physician were reviewed. Findings: Dementia caregivers experience many positive and negative consequences of caregiving. Some com prehensive services for caregivers have been shown to delay institutionaliz ation and reduce negative consequences of caregiving. The primary care phys ician has a role to play in working with families and should address the fo llowing issues: I)education about dementia: 2) psychological support for ca regivers; 3) assistance mobilizing caregiver social support networks. Concl usion: Primary care physicians have an important role to play in acknowledg ing and supporting the caregiving provided by family and friends to individ uals with dementia.