Retrospective analysis of guardians' perceptions of cognitively impaired elderly

Trigger events that indicate the need for proxy decision-making in cognitively impaired older persons

“…The importance of ascertaining the perceptions of persons who have had these experiences has been emphasized by Grisso,3 and has been a guiding principle for the authors in a previous study ofguardians in determination of criteria for incompetency. 4 The primary purpose ofthis study was to determine what the main event or "trigger" was that prompted the family member or informal caregiver to initiate planning for a change in the amount of monitoring and substitute decision-making needed for their cognitively impaired older person. The research reported here is part of a larger project that seeks to identify criteria for incompetency determination.…”