ALZHEIMERS CARE AND SERVICE UTILIZATION - GENERATING PRACTICE CONCEPTS FROM EMPIRICAL-FINDINGS AND NARRATIVES

Despite evidence of stress and strain, many of those who take care of relatives with Alzheimer's disease seem to resist using support servic es. Existing studies of the use Of formal care by families of Alzheime r's sufferers are reviewed with special attention to findings relevant to access, particularly perceptions of appropriateness and acceptabil ity or consistency with other needs and values. The conceptual model r epresented by, these findings is then applied to a narrative that serv es as a proxy for a real case that might confront a social worker. Vie wed together, both the review of empirical findings and the narrative suggest that theoretical frameworks that take into account meanings at tached to relationships and personal moral assessments of whether the duties of caregiving can or should be entrusted to otherS may offer pr omising alternatives to traditional psychological or psychoeconomic vi ews of supportive service utilization.