RELAZIONI FAMILIARI E MALATTIA DI ALZHEIMER

The contribution shows the results of a research program about the processes of the families that have inside themselves a relative suffering from Alzheimer’s disease. A qualitative study to execute a comparison between the families that give help to their demented relative by themselves and the families that regularly use health services (Day Center). The analysis was conducted following the symbolic-relational approach and with it it was possible to find out some particular forms of government of familiar space and time. Particulary an important difference between the two sub-groups of families were recognized, either towards the inside dynamics and the relationship with outside environment. The total recognition of the obtained results in the two parts of the work gives us some interesting conclusions. The main of these is that it is very improper to consider the presence of depressive symptoms in the caregiver as the mark of a family disorder, because, on the contrary, the families that present “affective themes” of depressive character are those that work out more realistic meaning of the pathology and consequently react following more adaptive modalities.