Institutional placement of a dementing spouse: The influence of appraisal, coping strategies, and social support

Abstract

Men and women (N = 93, mean age 73 years) who were providing home-based care for their dementing spouse in the family home were evaluated on recruitment to the study and 12 to 18 months later. The original caregiving arrangement was maintained in only 35% of cases. The level of burden that the caregiver experienced at the point of initial assessment, together with the coping strategies the caregiver was then employing, contributed to prediction of continued caregiving versus institutional placement over and above inputs from demographic variables (such as period of prior caregiving) and care-recipient characteristics (such as functional status). Participants who continued to provide spousal care at follow-up demonstrated only limited changes on stress and coping measures in this period. The findings are discussed with reference to processes associated with providing care for a dementing spouse.