The Caregiver Burden Alert: A Graphic Tool for Dementia Caregiver Burden Screening and Referral

Annually, 5.4 million people are affected by Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia (AD), most of whom are cared for by unpaid family caregivers and are medically supervised by primary care providers (PCPs). AD caregivers report feelings of satisfaction in their ability to provide care, though they often experience caregiver burden (CB) from the extensive physical and emotional effort involved in AD caregiving, especially when providing care to someone with advanced AD. Standardized measures have been developed to assess for CB among AD caregivers, and effective interventions have been developed for reducing CB. However, there currently lacks a standardized, feasible approach for CB screening. This article presents an innovative, evidence-based tool to prompt CB screening and referrals among AD caregivers receiving home care services.