The care-giving stress process

Until the 1980s, carers of relatives with dementia were so-called ‘hidden victims’ of Alzheimer’s disease. The attention of clinicians and researchers was merely directed at persons with dementia, and not at their family carers. Zarit and colleagues were among the first researchers who illuminated what they called the burden of providing care to a relative with dementia (Zarit et al. 1980). They developed a scale, ‘The Burden Interview’, covering areas most frequently mentioned by carers as problems, including carers’ health, psychological wellbeing, finances, social life and the relationship between the carer and relative with dementia. Results of their early study showed that persons with dementia receiving more visits from children (other than the primary carer), grandchildren and siblings had carers who reported less burden.