Construction of an educational manual for caregivers of elderly people with Alzheimer's disease

Population aging has been occurring progressively and in Brazil there is an accelerating growth curve. According to the World Health Organization, dementia is one of the greatest public health challenges of the current generation, in which the Alzheimer's disease subtype accounts for the majority of diagnosed cases. In this context, this study aimed to describe the construction of an educational manual to support family caregivers of elderly people diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. This is a descriptive, methodological study. Initially, a bibliographic survey was carried out on the subject in the following databases: CINAHL, SCOPUS/ Elsevier and Pubmed-Medline; using the descriptors “elderly”, “Alzheimer” and “caregiver”. The educational manual was developed on the Figma platform, structured on the basis of the aspects that emerged from the bibliographic survey, considering aspects of language, illustration and layout/design. A group of researchers specializing in the subject was selected for convenience to support the construction of the educational manual. The contents chosen for the educational manual were: What is Alzheimer's disease (AD)?; What causes Alzheimer's disease (AD); The stages of Alzheimer's disease (AD); The symptoms of Alzheimer's disease (AD); How to deal with behavioral changes in Alzheimer's disease (AD); Tips on hygiene, bathing, eating, the environment, cognitive and memory activities; Bibliographical references. The aim of this study was achieved, since the manual entitled “Caring for elderly people with Alzheimer's disease (AD)” was created by selecting content from the main sources on the subject. The limitations of this study are that the subject is not exhausted by the topics covered; however, too much content could make the educational material long and tiring, which is why it was decided to cover the main topics on the subject.