Psychosocial Interventions for Older Adults with Dementia and Their Caregivers

Dementia affects over 35 million older adults worldwide with more individuals affected each year. While primarily a disease of cognitive decline, the behavioral, functional and emotional sequelea of dementia profoundly and adversely affect the day-to-day experience and quality of life for both persons suffering with dementia and their caregivers. Effective psychosocial treatment of these problems is essential if we are to reduce the ever-growing financial and emotional burden this disease takes on these affected individuals, their caregivers, and the larger society in which they live. This chapter provides a review of the current evidence on psychosocial approaches to reducing behavioral problems among persons with dementia (PWD), with particular emphasis on state-of-the-science randomized controlled trials that assess outcomes of direct relevance to the PWD and/or their caregiver. This review encompasses the array of settings providing care for PWD (e.g., private homes, congregate care), the diversity of providers (family, professional and nonprofessional staff), and the common disabling problems of both the PWD (depression, agitation, and other behavioral problems) and their caregiver (depression and burden).