Challenges in Management of Alzheimer's Disease Behavioral Symptoms

Extract

Behavioral and environmental approaches to the treatment and management of Alzheimer's disease (AD) have received increasing attention by both researchers and clinicians over the previous 10 years. Although the impact of the behavioral consequences of the disease on both the victim and the caregiver has been recognized, effective approaches for managing these behavioral consequences have only just begun to be studied and applied in practice. Current knowledge regarding treatment and management of the behavioral symptoms of AD has developed primarily as a result of trial and error on the part of caregivers and the application of effective interventions from other areas of clinical practice (e.g., behavioral symptoms of mental illness and other neurological disorders).