Sleep in Persons with Dementia: Increasing Quality of Life By Managing Sleep Disorders

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Abstract
EXCERPT The annual number of new cases of Alzheimer’s disease, the most common type of progressive dementia, will more than double by the midpoint of the 21st Century, rising from 377,000 in 1995 to 959,000 in 2050, according to Hebert, Beckett, Scherr, and Evans (2001). Nursing care for persons with dementia (PWD) and their caregivers is challenging, and one hopes the future holds a cure for this tragic disease. However, a future cure does not help day-today coping for those currently living with dementia. Although the average life expectancy for PWD is 4.2 years for men and 5.7 years for women, PWD can survive as long as 10 to 13 years (Larson et al., 2004). Therefore, assisting PWD and their caregivers to maintain an optimal quality of life throughout a possible decade-long disease trajectory is an important goal for nurses.

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