Optimal management of Alzheimer’s disease patients: Clinical guidelines and family advice

Julia Haberstroh, Harald Hampel, Johannes Pantel

Department of Psychiatry, Psychosomatic Medicine & Psychotherapy, Johann Wolfgang Goethe-University, Frankfurt, a.M., Germany

Abstract: Family members provide most of the patient care and administer most of the treatments to patients with Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Family caregivers have an important impact on clinical outcomes, such as quality of life (QoL). As a consequence of this service, family caregivers suffer high rates of psychological and physical illness as well as social and financial burdens. Hence, it is important to involve family caregivers in multimodal treatment settings and provide interventions that are both suitable and specifically tailored to their needs. In recent years, several clinical guidelines have been presented worldwide for evidence-based treatment of AD and other forms of dementia. Most of these guidelines have considered family advice as integral to the optimal clinical management of AD. This article reviews current and internationally relevant guidelines with emphasis on recommendations concerning family advice.

Keywords: caregivers, management, quality of life, treatment