Prevalence and impact of caregiving: A detailed comparison between dementia and nondementia caregivers

Analyzing data from more than 1,500 family caregivers from the 1996 Nationa l Caregiver Survey, this study documents the ways in which dementia care is different from other types of family caregiving. Not only do dementia care givers spend significantly more hours per week providing care than nondemen tia caregivers, they also report greater impacts in terms of employment com plications, caregiver strain, mental and physical health problems, time for leisure and of her family members, and family conflict. Differential impac ts remain even after controlling for intensity of caregiving involvement an d sociodemographic factors. Study findings suggest the need to tailor progr ams and services to the unique challenges faced by dementia caregivers.