Teaching and supporting clients with dementia and their caregivers in daily functioning

Abstract

Look, he is happy doing the gardening by himself with these adaptations. Now, I don't feel helpless anymore and I have time to do my own activities. -A caregiver wife Community-based occupational therapy for clients with dementia and their caregivers is a client-centered and family-centered intervention that enables clients with dementia to participate in meaningful activities of daily living (ADL) in their own environment. It enables caregivers to support these clients in ADL and reduce the caregiver's burden. Occupational therapists (OTs) achieve this outcome first by analyzing the life stories and the needs and motivations for meaningful daily activities of these clients and their caregivers in the past and present, second by enabling clients with dementia to do meaningful activities in ways that will enhance their ability to participate by using strategies to compensate for their cognitive decline, and thirdly by modifying the client's environment to better support participation. Caregivers are trained in supervision and problem solving and in using cognitive and behavioral strategies to change their coping behavior and reduce their burden of care. © Springer Science + Business Media, LLC 2009.