Caregivers of Dementia Patients: Mental Health Screening & Support

Summary and conclusions
Extensive research on caregivers has focused on depression, burden of care, and self-care issues, with mixed findings. Gottlieb and colleagues report that caregivers struggle with the “apparent sadness, listlessness, and vegetative behavior” of their loved one struggling with AD.³⁵ Primary care providers are in a pivotal position to improve caregivers’ health status using reliable and valid assessment tools and offerring referral to services that have been shown to help caregivers in their complex and challenging role.

Support groups, assistance with behavioral interventions, information about the disease process and effective interventions, medication for clinical depression, respite and day programs for persons with neurocognitive disorders, and encouragement of self-care all reduce caregiver stress. Offering effective interventions can improve the physical and mental health of burdened caregivers and positively impact the lives of their loved ones.

Given the growing number of caregivers and the significant effect of caregiving on their health, staying alert should be a priority in all practices. Simply adding two questions to those we regularly ask—Do you care for a loved one struggling with memory loss? How many hours a week do you provide care?—can illuminate the challenges caregivers face, so we can monitor their health status appropriately.