Roles, responsibilities, and relationships among older husbands caring for wives with progressive dementia and other chronic conditions

Abstract

Men are playing greater roles in the provision of care for older adults with chronic health conditions. Husbands, in particular, encounter many role transformations as they witness their wives grow in levels of dependence as a result of their illnesses. This qualitative study examines the changes that occurred in the roles, responsibilities, and relationships of 17 husbands who were providing care for their wives with memory loss and other chronic health conditions. The results suggest that husbands experience changes in the ways that they adapt their marital roles to the new roles they assume as caregivers. It was found that the husbands had to learn how to form new types of relationships with their ailing wives. Implications for geriatric social workers and other health care providers are discussed.