Effects of Caregiver Communication on the Outcomes of Requests in Spouses with Dementia of the Alzheimer Type

Abstract

Three clinical and three matched nonclinical couples were studied for the effectiveness of their discourse in eliciting outcomes to requests made. Caregivers in the clinical couples were less likely to achieve successful outcomes than dominant communicators in the nonclinical couples. In studying the context for the requests, differences could not be attributed to the degree of concreteness of reference that was used by caregivers of spouses with Dementia of the Alzheimer type. More abstract and less abstract references were equally likely to be responded to by two of the three clinical couples. Differences in the styles of communication by the caregivers contributed to outcomes and reflected a self-reported degree of strain or comfort in the couples' relationships. Suggested is a method of study of outcomes that could be used in clinical assessment and intervention for nonresponsiveness and noncompliance with dementia patients.