How can we care for the caretakers?

If people who take care of a chronically ill husband or wife become ill themselves from the physical and psychological demands of such caregiving, who will care for them and their spouse?

Many families face this difficult question, and researchers at the UW are working to identify the factors that may put caregivers at increased risk for stress-related illness.

Dr. Peter Vitaliano, professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences, and colleagues with the UW Stress and Coping Project have received $1.5 million from the National Institutes of Health to continue the research.

Husbands and wives caring for spouses with Alzheimer’s disease have been a special focus of the Stress and Coping Project.

“Alzheimer’s disease can last for 15 years,” Vitaliano said. “Spouses who are caregivers are under exceptional stress because it is chronic and enduring. Patients become so impaired that they cannot perform the basic activities of daily living or provide companionship.

Such losses may intensify the caregivers’ physical and emotional problems, at an age where they are naturally at increased risk for illness.”

Previous UW research has shown that male caregivers have higher rates of obesity, higher triglycerides, and lower levels of HDL (the “good” cholesterol) than men who are not caring for a chronically ill wife. Caregiver women gain more weight than non-caregiver women. Caregivers have higher insulin levels and a greater prevalence of heart disease.

Building on this earlier research, the new grant will allow the Stress and Coping Project to follow caregivers for five years, and compare their rates of stress and heart disease with those of an age- and sex-matched group of non-caregivers.

“The study will use the chronic stress of caregiving as a natural experiment to examine relationships among psychosocial problems, metabolic changes, cardiovascular problems and physical health problems,” said Vitaliano.

The study will track the health status of both Caucasians and African Americans. For information on becoming a part of the study, call 543-8397. ¶

Laurie McHale