The caregiver burden is not measurable on any test or scale. You can't be objective about it, as each persons coping abilities are different. The caregiver is just as much a patient as the real patient. Its best to have a family member or someone else familiar with the persons history and behavior present to discuss the problem and fill in any blanks. Support groups, adult daycare and respite programs are incredibly important.
Caregivers have to learn to accept help.
When the family just cant cope with the behaviors anymore. Since it is so new, we don't have any information on long-term effects of the drug on people. There's no evidence that Aricept is useful in people with more advanced symptoms. It's really for people with mild to moderate Alzheimer's. This is a very active area of investigation right now as researchers look for drugs that will interfere with the pathological process of this disease.