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Today's Rural Caregiving: Managing Mood
Without Medication

Caregiving and Mood

Caring for an increasingly frail elder can be challenging and family caregivers should be encouraged not to neglect their own need for pleasant events. As many as 50% of those family members involved in long-term care for an elder will themselves become depressed. Successful respite services for stressed-out and discouraged caregivers are those that increase opportunities for their increasing pleasant events. When families must function as caregivers, the first major step is to become expert in recognizing health problems early and developing practical strategies for managing the day-to-day occurrence of those problems. This often means identifying and building in opportunities for pleasant events.

Linda Lindsey Davis, RN, PhD, Professor in the UAB School of Nursing and Senior Scientist in the Center for Aging at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, is a nurse with more than two decades of experience in working with elders with chronic disease and their families. She writes extensively on family and elder health, chronic illness, dementia and home care. Currently, Dr. Davis is the principal investigator for a study about helpful interventions for family caregivers of people with Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s disease funded by the National Institute of Nursing Research.

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