Family Quality of Life Among LGBT Caregivers of Persons with Dementia - ABSTRACT
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and/or transgender (LGBT) caregivers of persons with Alzheimer’s disease and related
dementias (ADRD) remain under-researched and, thus, underserved. What is known is that LGBT adults,
including those providing informal care, experience greater health disparities than their heterosexual
counterparts in terms of the prevalence of chronic disease, disability, access to care, and caregiver strain.
Specific data related to LGBT caregivers of persons with ADRD, particularly related to the psychosocial impact
of caregiving, are lacking. Not surprisingly, recent calls from the National Institute on Aging and the National
Academy of Medicine focus on examining the health of LGBT individuals related to aging, ADRD, and
caregiving. These data are critical to address the health disparities experienced by this population. Thus, the
specific aims of the proposed study are (1) to characterize psychosocial measures related to environmental,
psychological, social, behavioral, and health factors among LGBT adult caregivers providing care for persons
with ADRD; and (2) to determine the effects of care recipient (sexual gender minority status, neuropsychiatric
symptoms) and caregiver (stigma, perceived stress, self-efficacy, and historical and environmental factors
[victimization, discrimination, microaggressions]) characteristics on family quality of life, caregiver strain, and
mood/depressive symptoms among LGBT caregivers compared with non-LGBT caregivers of persons with
ADRD. A link to an electronic survey with items and measures guided by the Health Equity Promotion Model,
including the Family Quality of Life in Dementia scale, the Neuropsychiatric Inventory Questionnaire, Activities
of Daily Living, and the Center for Epidemiological Study Depression Scale, as well as demographic
characteristics, will be disseminated using social media platforms with posts specifically targeted toward LGBT
caregivers of persons with ADRD. The proposed project will be the first study to provide essential data
describing the unique needs of these caregivers.
