Immune function, mood, and perceived burden among caregivers participating in a psychoeducational intervention.

Abstract

ust as the number of older adults in the population has been increasing, the number of persons acting as the primary caregiver for an elderly patient with dementia has also grown (1). The primary caregiving role is most often filled by the spouse of a patient with dementia, and recent studies have shown that spouse caregivers are subject to symptoms of clinical depression (2,3) and compromised immune function (4–6). Thus far, psychoeducational programs targeting caregivers have been shown either to lessen depression, anxiety, and perceived burden or to have no effect on these variables (3). In the pilot study described here, women who were the primary caregiver for a spouse with dementia participated in an eight-week structured psychoeducational intervention designed to improve psychological and immune function. The study participants completed measures of mood, anxiety, perceived burden, and immune function at baseline, at the end of the intervention, and at follow-up one month after the end of the intervention.