Evaluating the Needs of Dementia Patients Caregivers in Greece: A Questionnaire Survey

Aim : The aim of this study was to explore the needs of dementia patients’ caregiv ers throughout Greece in order to use the acquired data for designing a comprehensive national dementia strategy . Methods: The work was carried out in Athens Alzheimer Association’s Day Care . A questionnaire containing 14 close question and 2 open ended was completed by 248 care givers looking after people with dementia living at home and participating in the activities of the Day Care Centers of the Alzheimer ’ s Association . Results: The majority of caregivers were females (78.2%) , mainly daughter s or spouses. A 41.1% had 12 - 18 y ears of formal education. Most of them live d with the person with dementia (69.4%). A 57.8% report ed neither difficulties nor complaints regarding the existing medic al and social services they took advantage of. However, financial p roblems and lack of allo wances were crucial issues for most of them. Moreover, caregivers need ed more support in caring and especially in every day practi cal and legal issues. Conclusion: T he findings of this survey highlight the importance o f assessing the needs of family caregi vers when designing health and social care policies .