Learning skills greatly limits stress for family caregivers, says Stan...( STANFORD Calif. - Interventional skill...),Health

STANFORD, Calif. - Interventional skill-building programs ease the depression, anxiety and anger common among family caregivers coping with a loved one who has dementia, say Stanford University Medical Center researchers. In the first study of its kind, the researchers found that female caregivers derived more benefit from this type of program than from traditional support groups.

"The women who participated in the skill-building program reported less depression, anxiety, stress and frustration," said study leader Dolores Gallagher-Thompson, PhD, professor of research in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and director of the Older Adult & Family Center at Stanford. "This type of program clearly helps family members manage the emotional and physical strain of caregiving."

Gallagher-Thompson's research was part of the National Institute on Aging's multicenter study known as Resources for Enhancing Alzheimer's Caregiver Health, or REACH. Her findings appear in the current issue of Gerontologist and coincide with the publication of several other REACH studies from around the country.

Numerous studies over the past decades have shown that caregiving is associated with mental anguish and poor physical health, with the impact being greater for caregivers of patients with dementia. A 1999 study showed that 40 percent of those who cared for a spouse with Alzheimer's disease and who experienced stress from their responsibilities died sooner than caregivers who did not report stress. This suggests that a caregiver's stress is an independent risk factor for early mortality, said Gallagher-Thompson.

A range of services has been developed to assist caregivers in coping with the stresses of their responsibilities, and the REACH study was designed to investigate the effectiveness of various interventions. Each participating site in the five-year REACH study developed its own intervention program; the Stanford portion, called "Coping
'"/>

Contact: Michelle Brandt
mbrandt@stanford.edu
650-723-0272
Stanford University Medical Center
15-Sep-2003

Page: 1 2 3
Related medicine news :

1. Learning to cover up reduces risk of skin cancer
2. Learning with a digital brain
3. UNC-CH Researchers Learning Ways To Help Black Women Cope With HIV
4. Learning From Experience: New Pattern Recognition & Detection Helps Radiologists Analyze Digital Mammograms
5. Testosterone May Affect Learning Skills; May Be Put In Tablet Form
6. Stem cells repair skills might be link to cancer
7. Universit de Montral study shows superior sound-location skills in the blind
8. Autistic children show outstanding musical skills
9. Concord grape juice improved memory and neuro-motor skills in animal study
10. Class on psychological skills helps college athletes perform better, study finds
11. Phone support group helps older people with HIV/AIDS develop coping skills, new study finds