This study focused on one question: Do caregiver responses--emotion-focused coping, problem-focused coping, appraisal of burden, and appraisal of satisfaction--mediate or moderate the effects of caregiving stress on psychological well-being? Findings indicate that development of interventions that focus on how caregivers appraise their situation,…

Examines the impact of family support and relationship difficulties between the caregiver and the care recipient on caregivers' satisfaction and subjective burden. Findings showed that relationship difficulties were associated with both satisfaction received from caregiving activities and subjective burden. Family support was not associated with…

Provides overview of impact of caregiving on families, discusses health policies that have led to limitations in formal support services, and identifies resources available to assist professional and caregiving families. (Author)

Studied 127 informal caregivers of Alzheimer's disease patients to determine correlates of 5 components of burden as measured by Cost of Care Index. Significant relationships between predictor variables and burden components suggest that global scores and measures of burden do not identify specific problem areas relative to various components of…

Employee survey revealed that 23 percent of 1,898 respondents were assisting elderly person. Multivariate analyses indicated that care providers, compared to other employees, were more likely to experience interference between job and family responsibilities and more likely to miss work. Respondents identified employee-sponsored programs and…

Examined family leave legislation introduced in 28 states in 1987. Found that only 4 states had passed such bills, and that only 1 bill included elder care; advocates of the elderly did not participate in the policymaking. Recommended that more attention be devoted to proposals that are intergenerational in focus and designed to aid informal…

Provides a critical review of studies that evaluate support groups for informal caregivers. Describes types of support groups evaluated, types of evaluative research, principal results, and limitations of the evaluations. Proposes avenues for further research. (JOW)

Examined two decisions of employed informal caregivers, allocation of time to care production and to the labor market. Found that caregiving production factors, financial resources, and personal characteristics of the informal care providers influenced caregiving hours and labor market decisions. German-, Irish-, English-, and African-Americans…

Analyzed durability of child-care arrangements, using data from 1983-84 longitudinal survey of welfare mothers conducted in three cities. Findings indicated that family day care arrangements were least durable; however, care in a center was not more durable than care provided by a child's relatives. Only convenience, with respect to location and…

Used an existential theoretical framework to guide the data interpretation in a qualitative study of 94 family caregivers of dementia patients. Results suggest that an existential framework provides an alternative paradigm for understanding the caregiving experience. (ABL)

Notes that caregivers of the dying would do well to consider the prescriptive power of humor when confronting the challenges of healthy care for the terminally ill. Addresses laughter as the best medicine not only for the dying person but also for family and principal caregivers. Includes examples of therapeutic use of humor with the terminally…

Notes that burnout among caregivers of the terminally ill is related to the various ways in which people meet their death. Provides examples of reactions to different types of death and makes suggestions for identifying and coping with caregiver burnout throughout the spectrum of individuals, relationships, and modes of death. (Author/NB)

Examined role of social support in process of caring for someone dying at home using data from in-depth ethnographic interviews with 16 caregivers. Employed cultural analysis to draw parallels with rituals of transition. Results suggest social support for caregiver of dying person is extremely important. Recommends question of negative social…

Describes Munchausen syndrome by proxy, diagnosis used to describe variation of child abuse whereby parent or adult caregiver fabricates medical history or induces symptoms in child, or both, resulting in unnecessary examinations, treatments, hospitalizations, and even death. Reviews assessment procedures, provides case studies, and describes…