ABSTRACT
The aging of the U.S. population and the high health care costs associated with chronic health conditions has spurred clinical, program development, and policy interest in ways that effectively and efficiently support informal caregivers of older persons in poor health. Family and friends provide most of the informal support elderly persons receive (National Alliance for Caregiving and the American Association of Retired Persons, 1997), and their help enables frail older adults to continue to live in community settings (Smith, Tobin, RobertsonTchabo, & Power, 1995). There is evidence that the risk of institutionalization is reduced for older adults who have a reliable source of support and care, such as a spouse or adult child caregiver (Beisecker, Wright, Chrisman, & Ashworth, 1996; Lee & Tussing, 1998; Mittelman, Ferris, Shulman, Steinberg, & Levin, 1996; Pearlman & Crown, 1992).
