Dementia Care by Healthy Elderly Caregivers Is Associated with Improvement of Patients' Memory and the Caregivers' Quality of Life: A Before and After Study.
- Author:
Seung Gul KANG
1
;
Kyoung Sae NA
;
Jae Myeong KANG
;
Byeong Kil YEON
;
Jun Young LEE
;
Seong Jin CHO
Author Information
- Publication Type:Original Article
- Keywords: Care; Dementia; Elderly; Memory; Quality of life
- MeSH: Aged*; Alzheimer Disease; Caregivers*; Cognition; Dementia*; Humans; Korea; Memory*; Quality of Life*; World Health Organization
- From:Psychiatry Investigation 2017;14(4):458-462
- CountryRepublic of Korea
- Language:English
- Abstract: OBJECTIVE: The provision of care for elderly people with dementia by healthy elderly caregivers is one of the new health-care paradigms in South Korea. The aim of this study was to determine whether this type of care, which includes cognitive stimulation, would improve the cognitive function of dementia patients and the quality of life of the healthy elderly caregiver. METHODS: Totals of 132 dementia patients and 197 healthy elderly caregivers participated in this study. We evaluated the cognitive function of the dementia patients at baseline and after providing the program for 6 months using the Korean version of the Consortium to Establish a Registry for Alzheimer's disease, 1st Edition (CERAD-K). We also evaluated the quality of life of the healthy elderly caregivers using the World Health Organization Quality of Life-Short Version (WHOQOL-BREF) at baseline and after 6 months. RESULTS: The word-list memory results of CERAD-K for the included dementia patients improved after 6 months (Z=-2.855, p=0.004). The WHOQOL-BREF score among the elderly caregiver also improved significantly (Z=-2.354, p=0.019). CONCLUSION: These data suggest that dementia care is associated with improvements in both the cognitive function of dementia patients and the quality of life of the healthy elderly caregivers.
