How family and friends share caregiving for older adults with dementia
Informal Caregiving Networks of Older Adults with Dementia
This project looks at how multiple family members and friends divide care tasks, money, and decisions for people aged 65 and older living with Alzheimer's or related dementias.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Emory University NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Atlanta, United States) |
| Project ID | NIH-11190852 on NIH RePORTER |
What this research studies
From your perspective, researchers will talk with people living with dementia and the family members or friends who help care for them, using interviews, surveys, and social-network mapping to see who does which tasks. They will record practical help like bathing and meals, medical decision support, and financial contributions, plus who experiences stress or hardship. The team will analyze how these caregiving patterns relate to outcomes such as caregiver burden and hospital visits. The goal is to identify where families need more support and how care can be shared more fairly and safely.
Who could benefit from this research
Good fit: Ideal participants are adults aged 65+ with Alzheimer's disease or related dementia living in the community and their unpaid caregivers, including both primary and secondary family or friend caregivers.
Not a fit: People without dementia, those in long-term residential facilities where informal family caregiving is minimal, or those unwilling to involve other caregivers likely would not benefit directly from this work.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this work could help shape programs and resources that support entire caregiving teams, reduce caregiver hardship, and lower avoidable hospital visits for people with dementia.
How similar studies have performed: Prior research shows caregiving arrangements affect health and costs but most studies focused on a single primary caregiver, making this network-focused approach newer with limited but promising evidence.
Where this research is happening
Atlanta, United States
- Emory University — Atlanta, United States (Active)
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Song, Mi-Kyung — Emory University
- Study coordinator: Song, Mi-Kyung
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page below.