Project 458713

Caregivers of community-dwelling Persons with Dementia (PwD) often experience a high burden of care that is associated with increased risks to their own health and that of the PwD, and with higher societal health costs. In order to improve interventions for these caregivers, we need to understand the complex relationship between shifting and escalating care needs for PwD and their caregivers, the nature of these needs and their association to demographic and contextual factors, including Social Determinants of Health and the community site and context of care. This study will develop a comprehensive categorization of the unmet needs of diverse, community-dwelling dementia caregivers and associations to key demographic and contextual factors. In addition, it will identify the interventions that key stakeholders consider necessary to effectively address these needs. As we increasingly recognize caregivers as essential partners in Canada's health system, this will be a timely study. It will directly inform the development and delivery of interventions to improve the quality of life and health of dementia caregivers, and the PwD for whom they care.