title: Is there an association between help-seeking for early detection of Alzheimer's disease and illness representations of this disease among the lay public?
abstract: Help-seeking (HS) for early detection of Alzheimer's disease (AD) is clearly essential because therapeutic interventions are recognized as being most efficient in the early stages of the disease. Using the Self-Regulation Model as its conceptual framework, the present study examined the relationship between HS for early detection of AD and lay persons' beliefs and emotional reactions towards AD.
  
  
  
  A convenience sample of 236 community-dwelling adults, aged 50 and above, completed HS measures related to early detection of AD, HS sources, cognitive and emotional representations, perceived threat, familiarity with AD, and socio-demographic questionnaires.
  
  
  
  Participants expressed low HS levels for early detection of AD. However, participants expressed higher levels of HS willingness if checking for AD would be included in the routine medical examinations conducted by their GPs. Multiple regression analyses showed that AD consequences and perceived threat were the main predictors of HS for early detection of AD, explaining 9.2% of the variance.
  
  
  
  Our findings stress the need to increase the lay public's knowledge about available treatment options and their efficacy, even in the advances stages of the disease when the consequences of the disease are much more severe. AD awareness programs should also pay attention to the potential fear which may exist in the case of HS for early detection of AD. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
authors.affiliation: Louis and Gabi Weisfeld School of Social Work, Bar Ilan University, Ramat-Gan, Israel.
authors.forename: Shiri
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-1340-2909
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Shinan-Altman
authors.affiliation: Department of Community Mental Health, University of Haifa, Mount Carmel, Haifa, Israel.
authors.forename: Perla
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Werner
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D042241:Early Diagnosis; D004644:Emotions; D005260:Female; D015438:Health Behavior; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012044:Regression Analysis; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
keywords: Alzheimer's disease; help-seeking; illness representations