Psychological Assistance for Family Members of Alzheimer’s and dementia patients

Maxi Rodríguez and Gonzalo Soliño, psychologists AFAGA.

From our Psychological Assistance Department we offer support for family members who take care of Alzheimer’s and dementia patients. We help them to prevent and control the possible appearance of physical, psychological or social alterations derived from caregiving.

This service includes a series of actions aimed at assisting them during the course of the disease:

To offer affective support to family members after diagnosis and during all the disease evolution.
To help family members to accept and face the disease in the best way possible.
To encourage the “self-care”.
To resolve difficulties and modify maladjusted behaviours.
To prevent damaging psychological disorders, proposing alternative answers that could be compatible with the patient’s cares.
To manage negative feelings and overburden moods derived from the care.
To identify the current situation of their family member concerning the disease, and to know its characteristics. This will allow family members to understand the “disease” and their “patient” and therefore to react in the most adequate way to the changing situation.
To encourage communication skills, health care organization and teamwork within the family environment.
To assist family members in mourning processes.

Kinds of assistance:

Individual
Family unit
Psychological and educational family carer groups.

How to enter the programme:

Through the Welcome Programme (Social worker).
Patient referral from another AFAGA Programme.
Upon request of the patient.

More information:

Telephone number: (0034) 986 22 97 97

E-mail: psicologia@afaga.com

Contact Persons: Maxi Rodríguez and Gonzalo Soliño