Wives of Elderly Disabled Men: The Hidden Patients

Elderly wives caring for disabled husbands have special needs and problems. Through interviews it was discovered that morale scores of disabled husbands and their wives were associated; although morale was generally low, it was possible to dichotomize the wives into high and low morale groups. Wives with low morale scores were particularly in need of support if institutionalization of the husband was to be minimized. Isolation, loneliness, economic hardship and role overload were the most frequently mentioned problems of the low morale wife.