The Management of Stigma by Alzheimer Family Caregivers

This article explores family caregivers' management of the courtesy stigma acquired in the course of their relationship with a family member suffering from the progressive deterioration of Alzheimer's disease. Caregivers' accounts from in-depth interviews and from support group meetings suggest that stigma management by the Alzheimer caregiver moves through two distinct phases: the first marked by collusion with the person with Alzheimer's; the second by realignment and collusion with an expanding circle of others. As caregivers move through these phases there is a gradual shift of management priorities from control of information to control of problematic situations.