The Experiences of Son’s caring for a parent with Alzheimer’s Disease

Among primary caregivers (individuals who indicate having the most responsibility for helping their relatives) of people with dementia, over half take care of their parents. Most caregivers (66 percent) live with the care recipient in the community (Fisher, et al., 2011). The responsibilities of caring for someone with dementia often fall to women (Kasper et al., 2015). Men are underrepresented in the literature pertaining to family caregiving in dementia. Yet, they play an important role in providing care for cognitively impaired older adults in the community (Houde, 2001). While there is extensive literature on caregiving in dementia, only a few studies have emphasized the caregiving role of men (Coe & Neufeld, 1999; Kramer, 2000; Russell, 2007a, 2007b).