Zarit, S. H.

Purpose: Dysphagia is a debilitating condition with widespread consequences. Previous research has revealed dysphagia to be an independent predictor of caregiver burden. However, there is currently no systematic method of screening for or identifying dysphagia-related caregiver burden. The aim of this study was to develop a set of questions for a dysphagiarelated caregiver burden screening tool, the Caregiver Analysis of Reported Experiences with Swallowing Disorders (CARES), and pilot the tool to establish preliminary validity and reliability.

Purpose: A randomized controlled trial was conducted to test the effectiveness of the Support, Health, Activities, Resources, and Education Program. This six-session psycho-educational program provides dyadic counseling for individuals in the early stages of dementia and their family caregivers.

While dementia caregivers are regarded as a population with high unmet needs, there is little consensus as to how caregivers’ needs should be conceptualized and measured. This article describes how dementia caregivers’ needs are currently assessed in the scientific literature with the goal of suggesting guidelines for the enhancement of future measurement of caregiver needs.

This study analyzes the short- (3 months) and long-term (1 year) cost implications of adult day care, a community-based program that has gained attention for its positive impact on dementia caregivers. A variety of costs (e.g., adult day services, formal service use, informal sources of care, employment changes) were estimated for caregivers (n = 367 at 3 months; n = 201 at 1 year). Results found that the daily costs to reduce caregivers' role overload and depression decreased with adult day service utilization over a 1-year period.