Managing and Understanding Behavior Problems in Alzheimer's Disease and Related Disorders is a training program for caregivers responsible for day-to-day care or supervision of dementia patients. The program, a series of ten modules, offers video and written materials designed to:

• provide background information about Alzheimer's disease and related disorders, including the current state of research, clinical evaluation and treatment;
• teach caregivers skills to assess and modify behavior problems which interfere with proper care; and
• identify and address the special needs of caregivers.

Together the video and written materials provide clear, step-by-step directions for observing problem behaviors and designing plans to change them. Modeled after behavioral techniques used successfully with other groups, materials teach caregivers to think about problems as happening in a sequence of ABC (Antecedents/ triggers; Behavior; and Consequences/results). Using this sequence, caregivers design a plan for change and learn how to deal with common troubling behaviors in dementia.

This video tape training program is geared toward institutional staff, such as nurses and aides, to families, and to in-home, paid and non-paid caregivers responsible for the day-to-day care or supervision of patients.

• Videos 1 and 2 provide and overview of common dementing illnesses, Alzheimer's disease and other conditions that mimic dementia, specifically delirium and depression, and information on assessments.
• Video 3 introduces the ABC approach to managing behavior problems in patient's with Alzheimer's disease and other dementias. Using the ABC method, Participants learn to identify and modify (A)antecedents and (C) consequences, thereby altering (B) behaviors.
• Videos 4 through 9 address specific troubling behaviors common in patients with dementia. Using the ABC model, case vignettes, instructions and explanations, viewers learn to modify these behaviors:
  • aggression
  • catastrophic reactions
  • language deficits
  • hallucinations/delusions
  • paranoia
  • difficulties dressing
  • difficulties bathing
  • wandering
  • inappropriate sexuality
  • depression
• Video 10 provides an overview of issues faced by professional and family caregivers, addressing their special problems and concerns, with suggestions on how to cope with the difficult task of caring for patients with dementias.

Case Vignettes, accompanied by instructions and explanations, teach viewers to think of behavior using the systematic A-B-C approach. This allows the caregiver to design an individual plan to solve a patient's particular problem.

Module Topics

1. Overview Part I: Alzheimer's Disease and Related Disorders (17 min.)
2. Overview Part II: Delirium and Depression (15 min.)
3. ABCs: An Introduction (15 min.)
4. Managing Agressive Behaviors, Anger and Irritation, Catastrophic Reactions (20 min.)
5. Managing Psychotic Behaviors: Language Deficits (8 min.)
6. Managing Psychotic Behaviors: Hallucinations/Delusions and Paranoia and Suspiciousness (14 min.)
7. Managing Personal Hygiene: Bathing and Dressing (11 min.)
8. Managing Difficult Behaviors: Wandering and Inappropriate Sexual Behaviors (19 min.)
9. Managing Difficult Behaviors: Depression (22 min.)
10. Caregiver Issues (30 min.)

For information about the use of these tapes or training seminars, please contact Dr. Linda Teri, University of Washington, Box 358733, Seattle, WA 98195 or e-mail: lteri@u.washington.edu

This series, developed by Dr. Linda Teri and colleagues from the University of Washington Medical Center, was supported by a grant from the National Institutes on Aging to the University of Washington Alzheimer's Disease Research Center.