Relatives of Persons Suffering from Dementia: Differences in the Burden

Abstract

ABSTRACTPartners and children play a key role in home care for persons suffering from dementia. When we compare the burdens placed on these relatives, we find large differences. On the one hand, these result from actual differences in the care situation. On the other, they arise from the differences in the way the people involved experience more or less comparable circumstances. To determine the sources of the differences in the burden on the relatives, a distinction was made between objective and subjective care-giver burden. Qualitative research, therefore, aimed to provide an understanding of the personal interpretation by the people involved. This was realised in about 40 case studies involving relatives.