Lunde, Angela

There is a growing emphasis on delivering services for persons with early-stage dementia (ie, ‘‘persons with memory loss,’’ or PWMLs) and their family members (care partners). The goal of this evaluation was to determine whether participation in the Memory Club, a 10- to 13-session joint support group, would result in decreased distress, enhanced preparation for care, and improved feelings of confidence managing the challenges of early-stage dementia. The single group, pre-/post-test evaluation included 63 PWMLs and 61 care partners who participated in three Memory Club sites in Minnesota. Paired T-test results found that care partners reported significant (P < .05) increases in preparation activities, feelings of preparation, and confidence in managing memory loss. The results suggest that the Memory Club can fill an important gap in early-stage dementia care by offering care partners the opportunity to plan, prepare, and increase coping skills in the face of early dementia progression.

Medication safety is a special concern for the 30% to 40% of dementia patients who live alone at the time of diagnosis, and it plays an important part in relocation decisions. Televideo monitoring could improve medication self-administration accuracy and improve mood for persons with mild dementia who live alone or spend a significant amount of their day alone. The authors used 2-way interactive video technology to monitor medication compliance of 8 persons with mild dementia. They conducted more than 4000 contacts with these persons and found adequate technical outcome in 82% of calls. End medication compliance was 81% in the video-monitored group compared to 66% in the controls ( P < .05). Comparison of compliance from initial to end ratings revealed that video-monitored participants’ compliance remained stable while unmonitored patients’ compliance fell 12 percentage points, consistent with expectations for dementia. This difference was also significant. Quantitative and qualitative outcome data from this project are presented.