The Impact of Care-giving on Care-givers: Factors Associated with the Psychological Well-being of People Supporting a Dementing Relative in the Community

The aim of this paper is to present findings concerning a variety of factors expected to influence, either directly or indirectly as mediators, the psychological well-being of persons caring for a dementing relative in the community. The sample included both co-resident and non-resident supporters and the data were collected via a semi-structured interview. Only sex of dependant, sex of supporter, satisfaction with help from relatives, blood/role relationship, duration of care, frequency of visits from a home help and community nurse were significantly correlated with supporters' morale and mental health. The directions of these correlations were, however, not always as expected, e.g. the longer the duration of care-giving the higher the supporters' morale and the better the supporters' mental health. It was interesting to find that level of impairment and help from family and friends were not significantly associated with morale and mental health of supporters.