Contribution of interventional studies on family caregivers of patients with Alzheimer's disease

Coping with chronic stress Family members are the first-line caregivers for elderly patients with dementia living at home. Giving care to a demented patient has an important impact on the mood, quality-of-life, physical and psychological health of family aids: frequent episodes of depression, immunity disorders, altered capacity for wound healing, increased consumption of psychotropic drugs and increased mortality. Interventions for family aids Helping family caregivers is an integral part of modern care for Alzheimer's disease: social and financial support, medical assistance. Several specific interventional programs have been proposed, either alone or as part of a multiple-component program: educational sessions, group support, psychotherapy, respite care. Necessary developments The results of studies assessing the effects of different types of interventions have shown that they reduce the cure giver's burden and depression, and patient's symptoms while improving the caregiver's feeling of well-being and his/her knowledge, and competence. Multiple-component interventions are the most effective. Research in this area should be developed in France, including an examination of the feasibility of such studies which are highly dependent on the cultural and social context of care as well as on the efficacy and the cost of the interventions.