Research on family caregivers: understanding levels of burden and how to provide assistance.

This article focuses on issues and research related to informal caregivers. The first 2 profiled studies looked at caregiver burden with 1 study conducted in the United States and the other in Thailand. Caregiver burden refers to the physical and emotional risks facing caregivers who are taking care of a relative or friend. Both found that the level of caregiver burden was related more to caregiver perception and attitude than to patient disease or other patient characteristic. Other important findings can be found in the summaries in this research brief. The third article profiles an investigation that was part of the Resources for Enhancing Alzheimer's Caregiver Health (REACH II) initiative. Amanda Elliott and colleagues provide evidence of an intervention that was successful in improving caregiver health. The fourth write-up summarizes an important meta-analysis recently published on evaluating the effectiveness of family caregiver interventions on reducing behavioral and psychological symptoms in people with dementia and reducing caregiver negative reactions to these symptoms. Interested readers are encouraged to read the original articles for more details.