Alzheimer’s disease is the most common form of dementia, a neurodegenerative disease. When contacting a doctor and suspecting Alzheimer’s disease, behavior is usually analyzed to clarify the diagnosis, a series of cognitive tests are performed, and if possible, magnetic resonance imaging is performed. Individual prognosis is difficult due to variations in the duration of the course of the disease, which can develop latently for a long time before symptoms become noticeable and a diagnosis is made. The average life expectancy after diagnosis is about seven years, less than three percent of patients live more than fourteen years.
Psychosocial intervention complements pharmacological intervention and can be subdivided into the following approaches:
- behavioral
- emotional
- cognitive
- stimulant-oriented