Bisogni di supporto dei caregiver dei pzienti affetti da demenza: revisione della letteratura.

Introduction The last century has gone through a demographic transformation with the increase in population of over 65 years old and the age-related dementia diseases. The family caregivers are mainly in charge of the care of these patients and they experience new dementia-related needs and the lack of health and social services. The aim of this review is to summarize the evidence about main needs of Alzheimer patients’ family caregivers. Methods A review of the literature, from 2009 to 2013, was carried out on Medline database (through PubMed). Results Six articles were included. Their analysis led to identify five family caregiver’s main needs: information, communication skills, coping strategies, redefine the network of formal and informal services, strategies to manage behavioral deficits. Conclusions Caregivers have multiple supportive care needs that change with the progression of the disease. It is necessary to redefine the formal and informal resources and promote professionals such as nurse case manager and family health nurse who have advanced skills for the early identification of these needs and could lead the caregivers to find the appropriate services.