ABSTRACT
This chapter provides an abbreviated overview of caregiver burden and stress, the physical and psychosocial morbidity associated with caregiving, social and financial responses of family caregivers, and cultural issues related to caregiving. Burden, stress, and strain have emerged as important concepts in caregiver research. Alterations in physiological functioning as a result of exposure to stress have been found to increase the probability of disease or illness. Major findings from the literature on caregiver stress suggest that psychological morbidity is a frequent negative outcome associated with the caregiving experience. The chronic stresses associated with taking care of persons with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) has significant consequences for the caretakers’ mental health, especially with regard to the risk of developing depression. A chronic illness such as AD taxes the family’s social, emotional, and financial resources. The family caregivers may suffer consequences such as social isolation, stress-related illness, abuse, impoverishment, and mental health problems including depression.
