ABSTRACT
Why focus on the family (broadly defined) when working with elders from ethnically diverse backgrounds? It can be more time consuming, add complexities to the interaction, and be more difficult to do, particularly in busy primary care practice settings where appointments are typically between 10 and 30 min in length (Hinton, 2002). Most clinicians are accustomed to working directly with the patient (as long as he or she can communicate with some intelligence) and perhaps one “primary” caregiver, typically the spouse in the case of Caucasian families (Mittelman, Zeiss, Davies, & Guy, 2003). This individual is usually the one who gives the patient’s history to help make the diagnosis and who supervises medications. He or she will also take on the role of reporting behavioral and other problems as impairment becomes greater. Most health-care providers refer to this primary caregiver as the “informant,” and as the dementia progresses, they often talk directly to that person, ignoring the patient, essentially. Most providers do not treat the caregiver, however distressed he or she may be, but instead focus on the patient’s problems and how to resolve them, often with medication for the patient and referral to a specialized agency for
patients of dementia and their families, like the Alzheimer’s Association, which offers support groups and other services targeted to the caregiver.
