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P4‐330: PREVALENCE OF AMNESTIC MILD COGNITIVE IMPAIRMENT IN DEPRESSED AND NONDEPRESSED ELDERLY BRAZILIAN COMMUNITY RESIDENTS
Author(s) -
BarcelosFerreira Ricardo,
Bottino Cassio
Publication year - 2014
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.2014.07.100
Subject(s) - dementia , depression (economics) , clinical dementia rating , psychiatry , epidemiology , population , medicine , clinical psychology , psychology , cognitive impairment , geriatric depression scale , gerontology , cognition , disease , depressive symptoms , environmental health , economics , macroeconomics
Background: To increase awareness of pharmacy services among caregivers through education. Background: The role of the caregiver is constantly evolving, from assistancewith basic activities to medical tasks, such as medicationmanagement, administration of injections, and wound care. As the acuity of the patients increase, the responsibilities of the caregiver and number of medications needed increase as well particularly in the Alzheimer’s disease population. Pharmacistsmust develop relationshipswith caregivers to educate and improve their willingness to utilize pharmacy services. In a survey of mental health patients, 53% of respondents have a strong relationship with their pharmacist and 83% of respondents report feeling respected by their pharmacist; which both reflect positive patient outcomes. To assess this perception, a current study was developed amongst the caregiver population. The objective of this study was to increase awareness/understanding of the available pharmacy services to caregivers and their loved ones and to assess the perception of pharmacists as care providers. Methods: Selection of the study sites was an ongoing process due to the need of the researcher to educate and assess the perception of caregivers. A convenience sample was obtained through relationships with local assemblies. A brief, pre and post survey was developed. Both surveys were coded and stapled together; answers provided by the participants correlated to the code numbers on the surveys (For example the code 001 pre-survey matched with code 001 post-survey.) Results: Forty three completed surveys were returned from participants. Out of these surveys, twenty three respondents were classified as active caregivers. The majority of respondents in the study were female (78.3%) and Caucasian (56.5%). An equal group of respondents completed one to three years of college or more than 4 years (39.1%). The majority of respondents were 55 years or more (89.4%). Furthermore findings that 1 to 10 hours was the largest group (9 respondents). A 5-point increase was shown in the strongly agree section from pre to post survey (5-10) which was associated with a positive outcome about the perception of pharmacists in the caregiver community. Conclusions: It was determined there was an increase in awareness from caregivers about pharmacy services. There was also a positive perception of pharmacists from caregivers based on their reponses. This awareness/understanding needs to be taliored specifically to the Alzheimer’s disease population. As the number of medication increases for these patients, the caregiver burden role will be cumbersome. One way to decrease burden is to promote awareness/understanding of pharmacy services in this patient population.