Review: The Role of Grief in Dementia Caregiving

Abstract

The literature examining issues of caregiver stress, burden, or depression has focused on the stress-process model of caregiving, which posits that there are characteristics inherent in dementia and in the course of caregiving for a person with dementia that can cause stress in the caregiver’s life. A more recent literature has emerged that argues that issues of loss and grief play a significant role in a caregiver’s ability to cope with the stressors of caregiving. This article reviews the caregiver stress and grief literatures, and proposes a conceptual model of dementia caregiving that outlines pathways of stress and grief in dementia caregiving. Issues specific to caregiver grief are proposed for future research and intervention design.