Alzheimer 's Disease: Disease Management

A pan-European report: 'Who cares? The state of dementia care in Europe', published by Alzheimer Europe, highlights serious gaps in dementia care. Dementia is a major public health problem.

However, one hundred years after Alois Alzheimer first described the disease, less than half of people with Alzheimer's disease (AD) have access to healthcare support services.

5.4 million people in the European Union currently have dementia2 and one in every 20 people over the age of 65 has AD, the most common form of dementia. However, the real number of people affected by dementia is much larger than these statistics suggest, as beside most patients is a carer - a wife, husband, daughter, son or other relative - who may have given up a normal daily life to look after their loved one.

The report summarises the findings of the ‘Dementia Carer's Survey'. The survey, which involved more than 1,100 carers from five European countries, was conducted by an alliance of Alzheimer's associations to investigate the state of dementia care, how carers cope with looking after someone with dementia, and the services made available to them.

The findings reveal that half of carers spend at least 10 hours per day looking after their loved one. Half felt that they had received inadequate information at diagnosis: four out of five wanted more information on help and support services - only two out of five were informed about the existence of an Alzheimer association - and half wanted more information on drug treatments. Perhaps most concerning is that more than half do not have access to services such as home care, day care, or residential/nursing home care, and when these services are available, many carers have to pay themselves. Overall, only 17% of carers considered that the level of care for the elderly in their country is good.

The majority of survey responders were caring for someone with AD, which can cause changes in personality and mood, as well as impaired memory and cognition. Carers reported that the most difficult problems to cope with were in managing daily activities, such as using the lavatory and washing, and behavioural symptoms such as aggression and irritability, which often cause a loved one to behave completely out of character.

REHACARE.de; Source: alpha galileo

- More information on Alzheimer Europe at: www.alzheimer-europe.org

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