Group counselling for relatives of hospitalized presenile dementia patients: a controlled study

A controlled study is reported in which the effects of time-limited group counselling for the relatives of hospitalized presenile dementia patients is evaluated. The results indicate that such group counselling was effective in increasing relatives' morale, increasing their knowledge about dementia, and increasing the number of activities performed with the patient during visits, but had no effect upon the frequency or duration of visits or the amount of verbal and non-verbal communication between patient and relative. All changes achieved were maintained at three month follow-up.