Objective: The authors wished to determine how much carers from different settings caring for patients with dementia knew about the disorder and elicit their main concerns about the disease.
Design: A survey questionnaire was administered to 136 carers.
Setting: Two old age psychiatric services and an Alzheimer's support group in urban areas of the UK.
Participants: The carers came from one of three categories: (1) carers with no prior contact with elderly mental health services (preassessment group); (2) carers who had been in contact with mental health care professionals (postassessment group); (3) carers in contact with an Alzheimer's Disease Society support group.
Measures: A questionnaire on the subject of dementia. Carers' worries about the disorder were also recorded.
Results: Carers in contact with an Alzheimer's support group were the most knowledgeable and carers in the preassessment group were the least knowledgeable on the subject of dementia. While carers in the postassessment group had a level of knowledge above that of the preassessment group, this difference failed to reach statistical significance.
Conclusion: The study highlights the need for elderly mental health teams to evaluate their methods of dissemination of knowledge to carers, develop educational packages for carers and evaluate their effectiveness.