Dementia can be debilitating not only for the older adult suffering from memory loss and confusion, but for family members as well. Understanding caregiving for ethnic minorities is critical. In Asian communities, addressing dementia and other mental health issues can be compounded by cultural factors such as perceptions of mental health and…

Background: Dementia, as a public health challenge, is a phenomenon vexing many care organisations providing specialised residential and family supports for older adults with intellectual disabilities. With increasing survivorship to ages when risk is greatest, expectations are that many more adults in service will present with cognitive decline…

In contrast with widely documented deficits of semantic knowledge relating to object concepts and the corresponding nouns in semantic dementia (SD), little is known about action semantics and verb production in SD. The degradation of action semantic knowledge was studied in 5 patients with SD compared with 17 matched control participants in an…

Aim: To better describe the role and timing of palliative care in supporting persons with intellectual disabilities and advanced dementia (AD). Background: Specialist palliative care providers have focused mostly on people with cancers. Working with persons with intellectual disabilities and AD offers opportunities to expand such palliative care…

This study compared information needs of caregivers of persons with dementia with caregivers of those who received rehabilitation treatment. Caregivers were provided a 48-item survey and asked to choose their top ten information needs. Dementia caregivers' (n = 33) top needs were dealing with forgetfulness/confusion (91%) and repeating…

Purpose: Exemplary care (EC) is a new construct encompassing care behaviors that warrants further study within stress process models of dementia caregiving. Previous research has examined EC within the context of cognitively intact older adult care recipients (CRs) and their caregivers (CGs). This study sought to expand our knowledge of quality of…

Over the past 40 years, the assessment and scientific study of capacity in older adults has emerged as a distinct field of clinical and research activity for psychologists. This new field reflects the convergence of several trends: the aging of American society, the growing incidence and prevalence of dementia, and the patient rights,…

The circadian sleep-wake rhythm changes with aging, resulting in a more fragmented sleep-wake pattern. In individuals with intellectual disabilities (ID), brain structures regulating the sleep-wake rhythm might be affected. The aims of this study were to compare the sleep-wake rhythm of older adults with ID to that of older adults in the general…

A qualitative interview study was undertaken to determine the information and support needs of carers of adults who have Down's syndrome and dementia. The data were analysed thematically. Carers' information and support needs were seen to change at pre-diagnosis, diagnosis and post-diagnosis. Helping carers to manage the changing nature of the…

The quality of the relationship between individuals with dementia and their family caregivers has an impact on important clinical outcomes for both. It is unclear, however, how quality of relationship (QoR) affects caregivers' desire to place their relative in a nursing home. We examined the association of QoR with caregivers' desire to…

The dual disability literature is marked by a lack of reviews with respect to assessment of specific aetiological groups. The current review summarises the wide body of literature relevant to the assessment of psychiatric and behavioural problems in people with Down syndrome. Adequate assessment within this population requires knowledge, not only…

Over the last decade a significant increase in the life expectancy of people with Down syndrome (DS) has been observed, which has caused a higher incidence of morbidity as they age. However, there is a lack of literature regarding morbidity and hospitalization of adults with DS. Analysis of 297 hospitalizations of 120 adults with DS aged 18-73…

Over the past decade Problem-based Learning (PBL) and distance education have been combined as educational approaches in higher education. This combination has been called distributed PBL (dPBL). However, more research is needed to obtain more evidence and deeper insight in how to design and implement dPBL. The present study aims at describing the…

Approximately 5% of older adults have a dementia diagnosis, and language deterioration is commonly associated with this disorder (Kempler, 2005). Several instruments have been developed to diagnose dementia and assess language capabilities of elderly adults. However, none of these instruments take a functional approach to language assessment as…

This article describes the implementation and outcomes of an experiential learning approach to facilitate the development of empathetic skills among teachers and learners at two high schools in Tshwane, South Africa. An inter-generational training programme, the Memory Bridge Initiative (MBI), aimed at exposing participants to interactions with…