Systematic Evidence Review on Care Interventions for Persons with Dementia and their Caregivers

National Institute On Aging

Investigators

Abstract

Research on care and caregiving interventions in the area of Alzheimer's disease (AD) and related dementias research (ADRD; including frontotemporal dementia, Lewy body dementia, and vascular cognitive impairment/dementia) has expanded tremendously over the past several years. Some programs to improve care and caregiving are already being disseminated into greater use. For example, the REACH II (Resources for Enhancing Alzheimer's Caregiver Health) caregiver intervention, originally supported by the National Institute on Aging (NIA), has been effective in an ethnically diverse population. Subsequently, the Department of Veterans Affairs has translated and modified this intervention for caregivers of veterans with traumatic brain and spinal cord injury in participating centers in fifteen states. Moreover, the Indian Health Service (IHS) is also pilot testing the program with several Tribal Nations sites through the IHS and Administration for Community Living. While evidence for this particular intervention is compelling to these agencies, many other care-related interventions exist, some of which may be effective and ready for dissemination for wider USt:?. Various groups have assessed a broad range of peer-reviewed and grey literature relevant to this field; several examples are provided below. Despite this important progress, gaps remain in understanding. The goal of this review is to determine the level of evidence that exists for a set of care/nonpharmacologic interventions for possible dissemination and implementation on a broad scale.