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P3–240: Vulnerability to carer burden in the adult offspring carers of people with dementia
Author(s) -
Dodge Suzanne,
Rance Caroline,
Lim Tiong,
Sussams Rebecca,
Hopkins Viv,
Holmes Clive
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
alzheimer's and dementia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 6.713
H-Index - 118
eISSN - 1552-5279
pISSN - 1552-5260
DOI - 10.1016/j.jalz.2013.05.1313
Subject(s) - caregiver burden , dementia , psychology , vulnerability (computing) , clinical psychology , medicine , offspring , psychiatry , gerontology , disease , pregnancy , computer security , pathology , biology , computer science , genetics
Carlson (2011) with input from an expert panel of four clinicians specializing in dementia care, two dementia researchers, and two individuals with early stage Alzheimer’s disease (AD). The interview has three sections: (a) Impact of Living with Dementia; (b) Spiritual and Religious Dimensions of Living with Dementia; and (c) Positive Psychological Dimensions of Living with Dementia which addresses constructs such as hope, forgiveness, resilience, and other factors. Results: Twenty-eight people with early stage AD and twenty-six family members received the DLD interview. They were able to engage in meaningful discussion about their values and beliefs, resources, and concerns through open-ended questions allowing for a unique understanding of their personal experience. The reactions of many participants to the DLD interviewwere positive and viewed as a meaningful opportunity to share their deepest thoughts. At least one person with mild AD stated that the interview allowed her to "feel like a person again," and others reported that the interview process had been therapeutic. In this sense, the DLDmay serve as the foundation for a strengths-based clinical intervention for coping with the early stages of memory disorders (which the authors are in the process of developing). Conclusions: The DLD interview is a potentially useful tool for strengths-based assessment/intervention. Future work should involve learning about the dimensions of living with memory loss among people with different types of memory disorders (i.e., MCI versus AD) and across diverse social, ethnic, and religious cultures.