The Caregiver Brain as a Measurable Clinical Variable in Vascular Dementia Care - A Proposal for The Caregiver Protocol

Family care partners provide the majority of ongoing vascular dementia care, yet are neither assessed, monitored, nor recognised as clinical actors within the health system. This poster proposes The Caregiver Protocol - a standardised three-phase framework that integrates caregiver neurological health as a measured variable across the vascular dementia care trajectory. Drawing on evidence from mortality prediction studies, neuroimaging research, and randomised intervention trials, the proposal establishes caregiver psychological health as a modifiable determinant of patient outcome. The framework is grounded in 70+ structured interviews with family caregivers in Romania, a context of high caregiving burden and minimal formal support. The Caregiver Protocol operationalises the dyad - caregiver and patient together - as the functional unit of care.