Dementia Caregiving Studies: A Typology for Family Interventions

Abstract

The number of elders in the population with some degree of cognitive impairment or dementia is expected to increase 500% over the next 50 years. In that few elderly individuals are institutionalized, this means manyfamilies will have the experience of providing home care for a cognitively impaired or demented elder. The health and well-being of all family members-regardless of whether they are direct caregivers or not-are affected by having a demented elder in the home. This article is a review of caregivng literature ofthe past decade to identify and classify interventions that have been successful in assisting caregivers of impaired elders. The intent ofthis classification is to generate a typology of empirically based interventionsfor nurses and other service providers who work with families caring for a cognitively impaired elder in the home.