Examining Support Received and Changes to Spousal Caregivers’ Social Convoys Across the Dementia Disease Trajectory

The social convoy model suggests that an individual’s support network includes their closest relational connections and more distal relationships that provide support. These networks, called social convoys, shift across the lifespan but might also change during stressful life events such as providing care for a person with dementia. We conducted retrospective interviews with 18 dementia spousal caregivers to examine changes in their social convoys while caring for their partners. We found that at dementia onset, caregivers’ social convoys included their spouse, family and friends, and broader community members who provided direct support, indirect support, and/or unsupport. Caregivers’ social convoys changed as dementia progressed: some family/friends moved closer while others left the social convoy altogether, formal care moved closer in the convoy, and spouses with dementia moved from supporters to co-recipients of support. Our analysis has implications for social convoy literature and practical implications for spousal caregivers and dementia clinicians.