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The role of carers in the information process in dementia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

Rahul Rao
Rahul Rao*
Affiliation:
Old Age Psychiatry, Maudsley Hospital, London SE5 8AZ
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The role of carers is explored in the process beginning with the early detection of changes in cognitive function through to the diagnosis of dementia. Carers were not always aware of early cognitive decline before other family and friends. Forty-five per cent of initial diagnoses were made by GPs. In over 50% of cases, the sufferer had not been told their diagnosis by health professionals or carers. A quarter of carers wanted more information about dementia even after referral to specialist services. The importance of early referral and provision of sufficient comprehensive information about dementia are discussed.

Type
Original Papers
Information
Psychiatric Bulletin , Volume 21 , Issue 5 , May 1997 , pp. 264 - 266
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright
Copyright © 1997 The Royal College of Psychiatrists

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