THE IMPACT OF THE MARITAL RELATIONSHIP ON THE EXPERIENCE OF CARING FOR AN ELDERLY SPOUSE WITH DEMENTIA

Husbands and wives constitute a large proportion of carers of those ol der people suffering dementia. Many older people with dementia have ha d a long history of personal relationships, often having lived with th e same partner for most of their lives. Following the life course appr oach, this study explores the ways in which a couple's marital experie nces impinge upon the challenges faced when a spouse develops dementia in late life and is cared for by his or her partner. I start by surve ying the relevant literature. The second section outlines a study of n ine couples and includes brief case vignettes. In the third section I seek to test out hypotheses extrapolated from the material, with the t heme of how perceptions of the caring situation are related to percept ions of the pre-morbid marital relationship, drawing heavily upon the case material. No single discussion is exhaustive, as any of these hyp otheses are worthy of intensive study in their own right. I conclude w ith a summary of the findings and a reflection on how professionals mi ght put these findings into practice.