Burden and Coping Strategies of Caregivers to Alzheimer's Patients

Abstract

JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.. National Council on Family Relations is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Family Relations.The investigators of this project examined several coping strategies used by caregivers of Alzheimer's disease patients and the relationship of those strategies to the caregivers' subjective sense of burden. Two hundred forty subjects were surveyed. Differences in burden scores were not significantly affected by caregivers' age, sex, income, education, or patient residence (i.e., community dwellings, institutions). However, burden scores were significantly related to caregivers' health status. Also burden scores were not significantly related to presence of confidant or support group membership. Three internal coping strategies (confidence in problem-solving, reframing the problem, and passivity) and two external coping strategies (spiritual support and extended family) were found to be significantly related to caregiver burden scores. Implications for future research and intervention programs are discussed.Alzheimer's disease is a degenerative process in the brain that produces intellectual impairment in over 1.5 million American adults. It is the most common cause of senile dementia which is the severe, irreversible intellectual impairment in older adults (Gwyther & Matteson, 1983). There is no known cause or cure for Alzheimer's disease. The incidence of the illness increases with age and it is estimated that 20% of people over 80 have this disease (Gwyther & Matteson, 1983) although many will have relatively mild cases. Because the population over age 75 is the fastest growing segment of the aging population, increasing numbers of older adults are at risk (Schneck, Reisberg, & Ferris, 1982).Alzheimer's patients suffer progressive cognitive deficits and memory loss which are asso-

Predictors of sense of competence in caregivers of demented persons

“…Demented persons are usually supported by an informal network consisting of among others family and friends. In existing research, actual support from the informal social network has Competence in caregivers 43 been found to diminish caregiver burden [1,20], or to have no effect on the outcomes for caregivers [5,18,21]. Perceived support, as experienced by the caregiver, was found to have a positive effect on the caregiver in two studies where no effects of potential or actual support were found [5,13].…”

“…The caregiver outcomes have been found to be unrelated to the caregiver's religion [16], socioeconomic status [20,32], or age [20].…”

“…In a number of studies, the burden of caregiving was found to be lower for male caregivers [3,23,28], although other studies reported no such gender differences [19,20,29]. Quayhagen and Quayhagen [30] found that the relationship between perceived social support and well-being was moderated by gender.…”

Serving primary caregivers of persons with Alzheimer's disease : an integrated service delivery model

“…A logical correlation would suggest that the more difficult caregiving becomes, the more the sense of burden and stress increases. However, specialists have discovered that while the severity of AD is a significant factor, it alone does not correlate with the degree of burden experienced by caregivers (Ory et al, 1984;Pratt et al , 1985;Zarit et al , 1980;Zarit et al , 1985) . Pratt et al (1985) note that stress is reduced if caregivers are confident about their problem-solving and caregiving skills, and are able to reframe or change the meaning of otherwise stressful circumstances .…”

“…However, specialists have discovered that while the severity of AD is a significant factor, it alone does not correlate with the degree of burden experienced by caregivers (Ory et al, 1984;Pratt et al , 1985;Zarit et al , 1980;Zarit et al , 1985) . Pratt et al (1985) note that stress is reduced if caregivers are confident about their problem-solving and caregiving skills, and are able to reframe or change the meaning of otherwise stressful circumstances . Zarit et al (1985) suggest that '\men the caregiver is flexible and tries out new approaches [for managing problems], the burden tends to be experienced as less stressful" (p. 72).…”