Dementia and Alzheimer's disease: a practical orientation

Abstract

This article presents a functional, brief, and, above all, practical orientation to Alzheimer's disease. This disease, with its many unanswered questions (and occasional unquestioned answers), is in first instance a disease to be cared for. The burden of this caring initially falls on care-givers and families; however, once Alzheimer's patients enter the formal health care system, nurses will be at the forefront of care. The foundation to good care is a solid but also applied understanding of the disease,how it manifests itself, and how it is experienced by patients, caregivers,and families.