Understanding Needs of People With Alzheimer’s Disease - The Role of Caregiver Perspective Taking - Summary

Sep 28, 2026

Uploaded by Connor

Innovation in Aging 2025 research examines unmet care needs among people living with Alzheimer’s disease despite intensive caregiver support. Unmet needs are framed as arising when caregivers and people with Alzheimer’s are misaligned about what the person needs. A mixed-methods study of 67 couples uses CANE to rate needs across 16 areas and explores communication strategies through interviews, linking higher caregiver perspective taking to more open, effective couple communication and better caregiver responses to maintaining perceived competence and reducing frustration.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryHealthcare

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Pages1

Reading Time3 min

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Understanding Needs of People With Alzheimer’s Disease

Caregiver perspective taking and communication

Study design and measures (CANE, interviews)

Key findings for unmet needs and caregiver burden

Innovation in Aging, 2025, Vol. 9, No. S2 87 between perspective taking and spousal discrepancies in PLWD’s needs. We then conducted a thematic analysis of caregivers’ qualitative descriptions about communication strategies about PLWD’s needs. When caregivers had high perspective taking, spouses described engaging in open, effective communication that fostered a shared understanding of caregiving expectations and caregivers felt they adopted PLWD-centered strategies that sustained or enhanced PLWD’s sense of competence. When caregivers had low perspective taking, spouses described disagreeing on the care PLWD needed and some caregivers acknowledged being transparently frustrated in conversations with PLWD. Findings illustrate how and why caregivers’ perspective taking can direct their efforts to understand and meet the needs of PLWD: perspective taking can facilitate couple communication and enhance caregivers’ perceptions of and responses to PLWD’s needs. These insights can inform interventions to improve the quality of dementia care and promote health in caregiving dyads. Abstract citation ID: igaf122.288 UNDERSTANDING NEEDS OF PEOPLE WITH ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE: THE ROLE OF CAREGIVER PERSPECTIVE TAKING Meng Huo1, Rose Tran1, and Emily Mroz2, 1. University of California, Davis, Davis, California, United States, 2. Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, United States Despite receiving intensive support from caregivers, people living with Alzheimer’s disease (PLWD) still face unmet care needs that exacerbate their own functional declines and increase caregiver burden. Unmet needs emerge when caregivers and PLWD are misaligned about PLWD’s needs. We conducted a mixed-methods study with 67 couples in which one person had mild-to-moderate Alzheimer’s disease. Both spouses completed semi-structured interviews to rate PLWD’s needs across 16 areas (e.g., self-care, memory, company) using the modified Camberwell Assessment of Need for the Elderly (CANE); they also discussed how they communicated about those needs. We examined caregivers’ perspective taking—their ability to understand PLWD’s thoughts and feelings and observed a negative association

FAQs

What does caregiver perspective taking influence according to the findings?

Higher caregiver perspective taking was associated with spouses describing open, effective communication and with caregiver use of PLWD-centered strategies that supported PLWD’s sense of competence. Lower perspective taking was linked to disagreements about care needs and frustration in conversations.

Sep 28, 2026

Uploaded by Connor