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Trajectories of care: spouses coping with changes related to mild cognitive impairment
- Authors:
- ROBERTO Karen A., MCCANN Brandy Renee, BLIESZNER Rosemary
- Journal article citation:
- Dementia: the International Journal of Social Research and Practice, 12(1), 2013, pp.45-62.
- Publisher:
- Sage
While researchers are beginning to address the social consequences of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) little research has tracked how married couples respond to MCI over time as symptoms stabilise or become more severe. The aims of this study were to discover in what ways daily life changes for married couples in which one partner has MCI and how cognitive changes and adjustments in the roles and responsibilities of spousal care partners affect the ways in which they perceive themselves and their marital relationship. The authors examined how 40 older couples in the United States adjusted to daily life after one partner was diagnosed with MCI and how their marital roles and relationship changed over a three- to four-year period. In the majority of dyads (87.5%) the wife was the care partner. All the couples experienced an initial period of transition in coping with MCI where they made adjustments in their daily lives and interactions. Following this period, four trajectories of care emerged depending on the extent of the decline in the partner with MCI and the spouse’s response. The authors conclude that changes associated with MCI affect role identity and have consequences for spousal relationships.
Care partner responses to the onset of mild cognitive impairment
- Authors:
- BLIESZNER Rosemary, ROBERTO Karen A.
- Journal article citation:
- Gerontologist, 50(1), February 2010, pp.11-22.
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
This study examines the characteristics, responses, and psychological well-being of care partners who support and assist older adults recently diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Based on a sample of 106 care partners of community residents diagnosed with MCI, face-to-face interviews were conducted, including scales and open-ended questions. Measuring the caregiver stress process model, including background characteristics, knowledge and attitude resources, stressors, strains, and protective conditions, the outcome was psychological well-being as indexed by depressive symptoms. Findings indicate that care partners’ depressive symptoms were higher in: the context of poorer health; lower perceived importance of religion; less knowledge about dementia; being more bothered by the older adult's MCI symptoms; having a lower sense of environmental mastery; more perceived burden; more frequent use of coping strategies; and more social support. Narratives revealed multiple dimensions of stress, strain, and frustration, regardless of the level of depressive symptoms. The authors conclude that assisting a relative with MCI presents new and complex challenges, even though it is an early caregiving role. Care partners likely would benefit from strategies aimed at reducing self-blame, enhancing coping skills, sustaining their sense of mastery, managing their health, seeking and accepting respite, and communicating effectively with the person with MCI.