Effect of respite care on dementia and nondementia patients and their caregivers.

The impact of a respite program on the cognitive and physical functioning of dementia and nondementia patients, and on the burden perceived by their caregivers, was assessed in a pretest-posttest design. A total of 55 caregivers were interviewed twice, 5 weeks apart. In the respite group, the caregiver's patient experienced a 2-week respite stay in a nursing home during the 5-week interval, whereas in the waiting-list comparison group, the patient experienced ongoing in-home care during the interval. We hypothesized that patient diagnosis (dementia vs. nondementia) would interact with respite exposure, with nondementia patients showing more improvement from respite than dementia patients. Regardless of diagnosis, however, positive effects from respite exposure were found for caregiver reports of the patient's memory and behavior.