Alzheimer's disease: Behavioral and social aspects

This chapter gives an overview of the behavioral and social aspects associated with Alzheimer’s disease (AD). In particular, the chapter first offers an outline of the phenomenology and diagnosis of the disease. This is followed by systematizations and guidelines to be adopted in the study of psychosocial aspects of AD. These comprise a socio-ecological viewpoint as well as a lifespan developmental perspective underlining the significance of adaptive efforts of both the concerned individual as well as of the family and further significant others. The psychosocial consequences of AD are then described for different stages of the disease elaborating different topics and tasks for individual adaptation.