Caregiver burden and psychoeducational interventions in Alzheimer's disease: a review.

BACKGROUND

Caring for a patient with Alzheimer's disease (AD) is associated with poor quality of life and deteriorating health for the caregiver.

METHODS

This comprehensive review was performed to investigate the current literature on caregiver burden, factors affecting caregiver burden and the effectiveness of different types of intervention.

RESULTS

Successful psychoeducational interventions for caregivers have included provision of information about AD, care planning, advice about patient management and the importance of self-care, skills training to aid patient management, stress management training, and problem-solving and decision-making guidance.

CONCLUSION

Interventions that are individually tailored to the caregiver are particularly effective at reducing caregiver burden and should be further investigated. The use of effective pharmacological treatment for the improvement and/or stabilisation of AD symptoms in the patient is also likely to improve caregiver burden.