Abstract

BAYLE, Filomena C.. O demente, a família e as suas necessidades . Aná. Psicológica [online]. 2004, vol.22, n.3, pp.621-627. ISSN 0870-8231.

In the last forty years, the percentage of the elderly in the population doubled due to a better quality of life and to a higher medical efficiency, resulting in a longer life and an improved expectation of life without disability. Still, aging in bad conditions such as a handicap, disability, dependency and dementia frequently causes fear and anguish, sometimes superior to those caused by death itself. Health Psychology is essential for aging people, and specially the demented, in two ways: individually and, as shown hereafter, collectively. Isolated families of demented people sometimes get totally "burnt out". The purpose of this work is to focus on the needs of the demented and their families in order to improve their quality of life.

Keywords : Elder people; insane; family.

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