Psychological help for caregivers in different settings

Abstract

Dementia family caregiving is linked with significant negative  consequences for caregivers’ psychological and physical health. Even though the term “career” has been used as a metaphor that describes the different caregiving transitions, it is not frequent to find in the caregiving literature information about interventions that may be especially useful in specific caregiving contexts or situations. In this work we review interventions that may help caregivers in different settings. Specifically, we review interventions aimed at training caregivers in self-care strategies, interventions that may help caregivers to optimize day care use, interventions for family caregivers who are in the process of  institutionalizing their relative or whose relative is institutionalized and, finally, interventions for bereaved caregivers facing the death of their relative. Considering the important percentage of population who are primary caregivers in our country, and the shortage or resources available to them, it seems very important to devote important efforts and esources to the development, assessment, and implementation of psychological interventions for caregivers, specifically targeted to the different situations and contexts they face.