The Effects of Alzheimer's Disease on Close Relationships between Patients and Caregivers

The focus in this research is the relationship of married and parent-child pairs in the presence of Alzheimer's disease. Intensive interviews were conducted with 11 caregivers for early-stage Alzheimer's patients to investigate changes that occurred in their relationships concurrently with the onset and progress of the disease. Over an 18-month period, intimacy declined in both spouse and parent-child relationships. Caregivers were saddened at the loss of reciprocal aspects of the close relationships and found it difficult to cope with the uncertain prognosis. They were unable to complete the grieving process and focus on other primary relationships in place of the lost one because the relationship continued though in a drastically altered form. The article concludes with implications for future research and suggestions for practitioners who work with Alzheimer's patients and their families.