International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences

Abstract

This article gives an overview of the behavioral and social aspects associated with Alzheimer's disease (AD). It first offers an outline of the phenomenology and diagnosis of the disease, followed by systematizations, and guidelines to be adopted in the study of psychosocial aspects of AD. These comprise a socioecological viewpoint and a life span developmental perspective underlining the significance of adaptive efforts of both the concerned individual as well as of the family and further significant others. The psychosocial consequences of AD are then described for different stages of the disease elaborating different topics and tasks for individual adaptation.