Anticipatory Grief and Alzheimer's Disease

This article will identify a number of variables that can be expected to influence the anticipatory grief process, including the stigmatization of the disease process, multiple losses and psycho- social death. The impact of each of the variables on the anticipatory grief process of caregivers of patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) will be delineated. Finally, the anticipatory mourning tasks for caregivers at each stage of chronic illness will be presented. Empha- sis will be placed on the special tasks of the caregivers of persons with AD and the role of the practitioner in assisting the caregiver to simultaneously remain actively involved with the patient, while they grieve their losses and prepare for death, which is the very compli- cated work of anticipatory grief.