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Resilience and Transitions From Dementia Caregiving

Schools of ¹ Nursing and ² Public Health, The University of Minnesota, Minneapolis.
³ Department of Social and Behavioral Science, The University of California–San Francisco.

Address correspondence to Joseph E. Gaugler, PhD, Assistant Professor, School of Nursing, The University of Minnesota, 6-150 Weaver-Densford Hall, 1331, 308 Harvard Street S.E., Minneapolis, MN 55455. E-mail: gaug0015{at}umn.edu

Longitudinal studies have documented how dementia caregivers adapt to their role. Less is known about how resilience (defined as lower or higher perceived burden in the face of frequent care demands) affects key dementia caregiving outcomes. The present study utilized data from 1,979 dementia caregivers over a 3-year period to ascertain whether resilience influences transitions from dementia caregiving, such as institutionalization, care recipient death, or loss to follow-up. Multinomial logistic regression models revealed that high baseline resilience (low burden, high care demands) was associated with less frequent institutionalization and loss to follow-up as well as more frequent care recipient mortality. The findings suggest the need for researchers to capture the heterogeneity of caregiver resilience when examining the longitudinal implications of informal long-term care and delivering clinical interventions.

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