Forty-one pairs of parents and siblings of adult family members with mental retardation completed questionnaires concerning future planning. Although almost one-half of siblings were willing to assume caregiving responsibilities in future, parents were reluctant to have them take on caregiving. Cognitive demands of mentally retarded members and…

Consultation-liaison psychiatry program in teaching nursing home helped implement six guiding principles, including make patient human to the staff; assume no behavior is random; look for depression or psychosis as source of problems; reduce medications and medication doses; create more homelike environment; and use conditions in which learning…

Group counseling for elderly people and their caregivers is described as effective treatment needed in counselor education curricula. Considers training needs and resources for counselor education programs. Notes need for counselor educators planning curricula and professionals pursuing competency through individualized plans of continuing…

Conducted meta-analysis of 14 studies to determine gender differences in caregiving stressors and burden. Found essentially no significant gender differences in functional impairment of frail care recipient or total caregiver involvement in care or in money management tasks. Female caregivers were more likely to carry out personal care and…

Examined role of adult siblings in caregiving for severely mentally ill using data from 109 siblings named by patients released from mental hospitals and 24-hour crisis care facilities. Results indicated that greater patient need, positive attitudes toward ill sibling, and other role involvements were major factors influencing sibling caregiving.…

Summarizes articles from 1980 to 1990 on psychosocial interventions and respite care for caregivers. Review is limited to controlled studies that attempted to change emotional distress in caregivers. Cumulatively, studies reviewed suggest that individual psychosocial interventions and respite programs are moderately effective; psychosocial…

Examined relationship between bilingual Finnish demented patients (n=7) and bilingual/monolingual (Swedish-Finnish/Swedish) caregivers during morning care sessions regarding promotion of integrity in demented persons. Found that bilingual caregivers' relationships with patients was positive or mainly positive, whereas monolingual caregivers had…

Used daily experience survey to distinguish patterns of stress among 21 elderly individuals providing home care to spouse or parent with Alzheimer's disease and comparison group of 20 elderly noncaregivers. Found that life circumstances influenced stress perception in daily life. Caregivers and noncaregivers differed in types of experiences they…

Physical or sexual abuse cases were analyzed to estimate the frequency and severity of child abuse committed by 1,165 individuals in nonparental caregiving roles. While caregiver age did not have a consistent effect on occurrence of physical abuse, notable differences between adolescents and adults were found in sexual abuse. (Author/JDD)

Interviewed 400 union members, majority of whom were low-income African American and Latina women who care for frail aged and disabled Medicaid recipients in their homes. Found that home care workers expressed need for better health care coverage, especially for stress-related illnesses, along with personal social services to assist with housing,…

Primary caregivers (n=41) of memory-impaired patients rated a standardized stimulus of depression and their actual patient. They were able to correctly identify depression in both. Further, their mood was unassociated with video ratings and only moderately associated with patient ratings. The findings support reliance on caregiver input.…

Randomly assigned spouse-caregivers of Alzheimer's disease patients to treatment group (individual and family counseling, support group participation, and ad hoc consultation) or control group (only routine support). Treatment group had less than half as many nursing home placements as control group. Placement also was affected by patient's need…

Examined strategies used by 170 Alzheimer's disease caregivers to cope with memory deficits, communication impairments, and decline of loved one. Wishfulness was related to more depressed affect, regardless of stressor type. Relaxation in response to memory deficits, and acceptance in dealing with communication impairments and decline of loved one…

To examine possible reasons for conflicting prevalence data on psychiatric features of Alzheimer's disease, compared results of mental status examination by physician with questionnaire completed by caregivers in eliciting 12 different psychiatric symptoms. Found agreement only on categories suggesting agitation. Formal examination showed more…

Examined potential benefits and costs of having both work and elder care responsibilities, based on interviews with 94 employed caregivers. For most respondents, negative aspects of combining work and caregiving roles were outweighed by positive aspects, such as sense of accomplishment, enhanced interpersonal relationships, and opportunities to…