The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA.
Am J Alzheimers Dis Other Demen. 2011 May;26(3):212-7. doi: 10.1177/1533317511400306. Epub 2011 Mar 1.
Diagnosing Alzheimer's disease and related dementias (ADRD) and adequately connecting families with information and supportive services continue to be challenging processes. Definitive diagnoses can take months and there is often little in place to systematically link families with community organizations. In this brief descriptive study, the researchers examined family caregivers' (N = 106) experiences with these processes. While specialists and sophisticated tests were often used, 58% of caregivers reported that a definitive diagnosis still took 3 months or longer, with 12% waiting more than 1 year. Caregivers also indicated that they were not provided with adequate information about the disease or about community resources both at the time of diagnosis and 1-year following the diagnosis. These findings suggest that there is ample opportunity to improve services offered to families affected by ADRD and that additional training, coordination, and cooperation may enhance our ability to help during and following the diagnosis.
诊断阿尔茨海默病及相关痴呆症（ADRD），并为患者家庭提供相关信息和支持服务，这两个过程一直充满挑战。明确的诊断可能需要数月的时间，而且通常没有系统的方法将家庭与社区组织联系起来。在这项简要的描述性研究中，研究人员调查了 106 名家庭照顾者的经历。虽然专家和复杂的测试经常被使用，但 58%的照顾者报告说，明确的诊断仍需要 3 个月或更长时间，12%的人等待时间超过 1 年。照顾者还表示，在诊断时和诊断后 1 年，他们没有得到关于疾病或社区资源的充分信息。这些发现表明，有充分的机会可以改善为受 ADRD 影响的家庭提供的服务，额外的培训、协调和合作可能会提高我们在诊断期间和之后帮助他们的能力。
