Spousal Caregivers Are Caregiving Alone in the Last Years of Life

Health Affairs reports that caregiving in the last years of life may be associated with increased depression and an array of negative health outcomes for surviving spouses, many of whom are in declining health themselves. A team of five researchers, including article co-authors Katherin A. Ornstein and Jennifer L. Wolff, hypothesize that spouses who were the only caregivers (paid or unpaid) who provided assistance with a spouse's self-care or household activities would experience greater levels of depression after bereavement than supported spouses would. Using information from the Health and Retirement Study, they found that 55 percent of the spouses of community-dwelling married people with disability were solo caregivers. "Solo caregiving was even common among people who cared for spouses with dementia and those with adult children living close by," they write. Fortunately, a number of state and federal policy proposals are aiming to systematically recognize and assess caregivers. But further innovations in care delivery and reimbursement are needed to adequately support seriously ill older men and women and their caregivers.