Assisting Families in Coping With Alzheimer's Disease and Other Related Dementias With the Establishment of a Mutual Support Group.

The article presents a study on the establishment of a mutual support group to assist families in coping with Alzheimer's disease and other related dementias. Alzheimer's disease or dementia, the most common dementing illness affects 20 to 30 percent of the population who reach their mid-eighties. Alzheimer's disease is a family disease because the caregiver is involved in a progressively more active role as a caregiver to a person with Alzheimer's disease. People who have family members with Alzheimer's disease can participate in mutual support groups led by social workers to ease their burden.