CARING FOR A MEMORY-IMPAIRED SPOUSE - A GENDER-SENSITIVE PERSPECTIVE

Since caregiving is often viewed as an extension of the female's tradi tional role of caring, it could easily be assumed that women would hav e the advantage in the role of primary caregiver to an impaired partne r. Research however does not support this. Rather, studies have found that women, and particularly wives, who are caring for a memory impair ed relative have repeatedly identified greater distress in the caregiv ing role than their male counterparts. Unfortunately, to date, the dif ferential reactions of women are poorly understood. This limits effect ive intervention. The purpose of this article then, is to begin to dev elop a framework for conceptualizing the gendered impact of caring for a memory-impaired partner in order to better understand women's, and particularly wives', reaction. Specifically, using a relational perspe ctive the experience of living with a memory impaired husband will be explored.