ACT on Alzheimer’sDisease Curriculum

Module X: Caregiver Support

Caregiver Support

• These slides are based on the Module X: Caregiver Support text

• Please refer to the text for all citations, references and acknowledgments

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Module X: Learning ObjectivesUpon completion of this module the student should:• Identify the difficult aspects of being a caregiver for

someone who has dementia.• Demonstrate an understanding of and distinguish

between activities of daily living (ADLs) and instrumental activities of daily living (IADLs).

• Gain insight into the cost, stressors, and risks that affect caregivers, including the correlation between a caregiver’s health and well-being with the well-being of the person for whom they are caring.

• Recognize services that can be used to decrease stressors.

Caregiving For People With Dementia

Caregiving For People With Dementia

• Caregiving involves extraordinary care– Includes helping others with activities of daily

living (ADLs)• Dressing, bathing, incontinence, and feeding

– Includes helping others with instrumental activities of daily living (IADLs) • Shopping, meal preparation, transportation,

medication management and managing finances

Caregiving For People With Dementia

• Caregivers of those with dementia dedicate more time to care and are more heavily involved with ADLs and IADLs

• Caregivers of people with dementia also face increased emotional and psychological challenges due to the difficulty in caring for a person with dementia

Caregiving For People With Dementia

• Dementia caregivers typically are adult children, spouses or other relatives

• Most caregivers are female, have some college education and devote an average of 20 hours a week providing unpaid care to someone over 50 years of age

Caregiving For People With Dementia

• There are many physical, social, psychological, and financial risks associated with dementia caregiving– Physical risks: caregiving increases the risk of health

problems– Social risks: caregivers frequently suffer from feelings

of social isolation– Psychological risks: caregivers are at increased risk of

depression– Financial risks: caregiving places significant financial

burdens on caregivers due to lost wages and cost of care

Caregiver Support

Caregiver Support

• Providing support for dementia caregivers is a societal imperative– 70% of individuals with Alzheimer’s disease live at

home and the health care system could not sustain the cost of care without unpaid caregivers

– In 2012, an estimated 15 million unpaid caregivers provided an estimated 17.5 billion hours of unpaid care

Caregiver Support

• There is a strong correlation between the health and well-being of a caregiver and the quality of care that caregivers can provide

• Such a correlation calls for assuring the availability of caregiver supports

• A caregiver with a positive outlook provides better care for a longer period of time

Caregiver Support

• Types of caregiver support include:– Information and assistance– Respite– Counseling– Support groups and education– Personal care– Homemaker/chore services– Legal or financial services– Care consultation

Caregiver Support

• The core components of effective caregiver interventions share the following characteristics– Assessment of caregiver needs, resources and

strengths– Tailor interventions to address specific needs of

the caregivers– Education about the disease and behaviors– Problem solving assistance for behavior challenges– Other caregiver support including respite

Caregiver Support

• There are four categories of empirically-supported interventions for caregiver support– Multidimensional interventions: designed to

address multiple stressors for caregivers– Behavioral interventions: training caregivers to

manage specific behavioral challenges– Group interventions: support groups with a

limited focus are most effective– Respite services: provides time off for caregivers