Alzheimer's disease and family caregiving: critical synthesis of the literature and research agenda.

This paper is a synthesis of knowledge about Alzheimer's disease (AD) and AD family caregiving published over the last decade (approximately 1979-1990). While there has been an increase in the volume of scientific work in this area, methodological difficulties, unclear findings, and gaps, particularly with regard to inclusion of ethnic minority populations, persist. The current research priority on evaluating intervention programs represents a worthy direction, yet such a focus may be premature until basic knowledge builds on, extends, and transcends the foundation established in the past decade.