In addition, a study among 110 participants of support groups is presented. Quantitative analyses show that the support group is especially effective in caregivers who are dissatisfied about their role as caregiver and have no job. Support groups are also more effective when the elderly person is more apathetic and lives in a nursing home. These ways of support provide caregivers with a better perspective on their situation and help them to better cope with problems and emotions. There was general agreement that shared decision-making was preferred.
Physicians seem to make surrogate decisions in accordance with contemporary views about their roles.
Families believed they had a strong subjective appreciation of the patient s overall good. The burden of decision-making was greater for families, but that depended to some degree on the diagnosis of the patient. As people live longer, an increasing proportion of patients with schizophrenia and delusional disorder will be elderly. Little has been published on treatment response, effective treatment strategies, or the use of atypical neuroleptics in this group. This review of the literature explores documented response rate, route and dose of neuroleptic, indicators of poor response, and the use of novel drugs.