We examined differences in positive aspects of caregiving (PAC) among 275 African American and 343 Caucasian caregivers of individuals with Alzheimer's disease from the National Institutes of Health Resources for Enhancing Alzheimer's Care Health (REACH) study sites in Birmingham, Memphis, and Philadelphia. African Americans reported higher scores on PAC than did Caucasians. African Americans' higher religiosity partially mediated the relationship between race and PAC. Additional variables that contributed to their higher PAC scores were African Americans' lower anxiety, lower feelings of bother by the care recipient's behavior, and lower socioeconomic status.

This study considers potential interaction effects of three measures of religiosity, organized (OR), non-organized (NOR), and intrinsic religiosity (IR), on depression and general mental health, controlling for socio-demographic characteristics and mobility. In-home interviews were conducted among a stratified random sample of Medicare beneficiaries from five central Alabama counties (the University of Alabama at Birmingham Study of Aging). Those who were high on all three dimensions of religiosity reported having fewer symptoms of depression and better mental health than did those who were low on all three dimensions of religiosity. Subjects who scored high on OR reported lower levels of depression (F (1,981) = 3.97, p<0.05). Neither IR nor NOR had salutary effects on the measure of depression nor on the general measure of mental health.The interpretation of the relationships of religiosity with the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS) and the general mental health (Mental Component Score of the SF-12; MCS) measures was complicated by the presence of three way interactions (F (1,981) = 9.02, p<0.01 and F (1, 981) = 5.46, p<0.05, for GDS and MCS respectively). The presence of interaction effects between the different dimensions of religiosity and mental health affirms the importance of remaining sensitive to the multidimensional nature of religiousness and its relationships with measures of mental health.

The purpose of this study was to develop empirically based typologies of religiousness/spirituality (R/S) and to determine whether the typologies were related to health and well-being. The study used a nationally representative sample of adults (N=1,431). Using latent profile analysis, typologies were derived based on religious service attendance, prayer, positive religious coping, and daily spiritual experiences. Multivariate statistical tests were used to examine cluster differences in health and well-being. A four-class model was identified: highly religious, moderately religious, somewhat religious, and minimally religious or non-religious. The four classes were distinctively different in psychological well-being, in that the highly religious class was most likely to be happy and satisfied with finances and least likely to be psychologically distressed.

While it is known that social engagement is important for the well-being of older people, its role among residents in assisted living (AL) residences has not been well explored. The purposes of this study were to explore the experiences of social engagement among AL residents and explain its components and processes as unique to this setting. Qualitative data were collected via semistructured, in-depth interviews with 29 residents in four AL residences in a Southern state. Salient themes were derived using the grounded theory approach. Findings revealed the complexity of social engagement and were organized around five themes related to characteristics of desired social relationships, the perspective of time and loss, barriers to and resources for social engagement, and strategies to develop or modify relationships. AL providers could make concerted efforts to develop practices to provide residents with more social and emotional resources and help them engage in meaningful social interactions.

Objective-This study explored how male and female family caregivers of Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients differ in their use of formal services and informal support and how religiousness may affect such differences.Methods-Data were from a sample of 720 family caregivers of AD patients who participated in the Resources for Enhancing Alzheimer's Caregiver Heath (REACH I) study sites in Birmingham, Boston, Memphis, and Philadelphia.Results-Female caregivers were less likely to use in-home services than males (M = 0.83 vs. M = 1.06, p < .01) but reported more use of transportation services (21.6% vs. 12.7%, p < .01) and more use of informal support (M = 13.9 vs. M = 10.7, p < .01). Mediation tests suggested that three measures of religiousness helped explain the relationship between gender and use of formal services and informal support.Discussion-These findings highlight the necessity to assess AD caregivers' religiousness to better understand their circumstances. Keywordsgender; Alzheimer's caregiving; religiousness; service use Women have had a long history as the primary caregivers in American society. With medical advances and increased longevity, this has increasingly included care of older adults. These same factors have also resulted in an increase in the number of males providing care to adults, most often spouses. Males, however, have not had the same tradition of and experiences with caregiving that females have had and thus might approach the task somewhat differently (Calasanti & Bowen, 2006).A substantial proportion of current female AD caregivers was born in the first third of the 20th century and formed many of their views on caregiving during the 1930s and 1940s. Caregiving, both of children and adults, during this time was largely a family/friend matter. Day care was Please address correspondence to Fei Sun, Social Work Department, Arizona State University, #3251, 4701 W. Thunderbird Road, Glendale, AZ, 85306-4908; sun011@bama.ua.edu. NIH Public AccessAuthor Manuscript J Aging Health. Author manuscript; available in PMC 2010 February 10. NIH-PA Author ManuscriptNIH-PA Author Manuscript NIH-PA Author Manuscript not readily available, elder care programs were nonexistent, and the proportion of married women who worked outside the home was low (Velkoff & Lawson, 1998). Consequently, care systems were largely informal.Beyond the family, the primary institution that provided support and help to individuals was the church. Mothers, perhaps because they had primary responsibility for the socialization of their children, were more heavily involved with the church and thus could, at least on occasion, find support and assistance from the church community (Levitt, 1995). Males from this same era had primary responsibility for providing financially for the family and had less involvement in direct care of children or, in those cases where it occurred, adult care. They also generally had less involvement with the church, at least as a system of social support (Francis, 1997).The biographical context ...