Abstract
Factors affecting family tolerante toward elder demented patients. In the foreseeble future it is expected that the total elderly population with dementia and the resources destinated to their tare will not probably mercase at the same rate and celerity. Family is now the most important and suitable provider of social support for that elderly demented people, usually living in a family setting, especially when spacial and social frames are not modified during a period where these frames of referente cannot be easily changed. In the present study, causes of family intolerante toward the elder demented patient are assessed in a sample of 86 patients attended at a First Medical Aid Center during one year, showing innequivocal signs of dementia according to a Mini Mental Test of cognitive skills. Results show that financial and social shortage in the aged person, thrown off his or her usual hierarchical family role, and the presence of a psychological disorder (probably a personality disorder, either in the elder person or in the family members, are the most relevant factors in the prediction of family tolerante. According to the Mini Mental Test, the level of dementia does not affect family tolerante.
