Interventions for caregivers of patients with Alzheimer's disease: a review and analysis of content, process, and outcomes

Abstract

Current reviews of the caregiver intervention literature have focused primarily on the outcomes of interventions for caregivers and general methodological limitations of individual studies (i.e., sampling and recruitment issues, adequacy of outcome measures, and generalization issues). Little attention has been paid to the specific factors affecting the therapeutic process, including the intensity and integrity of the interventions used. The purpose of this review is to examine closely the content and process of Alzheimer's disease (AD) caregiver interventions. We describe the types of interventions currently in use, factors affecting intervention outcomes, and we conclude with specific recommendations for the application of intervention technology and for the documentation of intervention research.