Caring for a family member or loved one with dementia or other health conditions can be overwhelming. Family caregivers are often referred to as “informal,” as their work is unpaid and often unrecognized.

While paid, or “formal,” caregivers typically have training and a clear job description, family caregivers frequently provide all of the care necessary to keep their relative at home and safe in the community. It is the open-ended nature of this role that often leaves caregivers feeling frustrated and overwhelmed.

Many caregivers become isolated from friends and other family members. Most caregivers neglect their own personal health needs and medical appointments in order to accommodate their increasing responsibilities. This leaves them vulnerable to illness, stress, depression and cardiovascular disease.

Elderly people who care for a spouse who has dementia are at increased risk of developing dementia themselves, a study finds. The stress of attending to a mentally incapacitated spouse may somehow contribute to the added risk, scientists report in the May Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.

Caregiver stress has been associated with premature nursing home placement of patients with dementia.

To relieve this problem, a growing number of caregivers are finding that mindfulness practice helps them renew their energies and prevent burnout. Mindfulness means paying attention on purpose to a particular experience without getting wrapped up in it. Instead of getting trapped in the intensity of their work and in all of the tasks they must perform, mindfulness allows caregivers to identify their own needs and fulfill them. This is critical because it is impossible for caregivers to look after others when they can’t look after themselves.

Tapping into the present moment is important because it offers up the opportunity to get out of the “doing” mode of mind and into the being” mode of mind. The space that is created as a result of waking up to the automaticity of our mind and behaviours can offer us more choices on how to respond to situations instead of simply reacting to them.

My colleague Dr. Ellen Buchman and I are starting a Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction program for Caregivers of people living with Dementia.

We are holding a free introductory session on Thursday afternoon, November 18th, 2010.

The program itself will run on eight consecutive Thursday afternoons at the Toronto Memory Program from January 13th until March 3rd.

Please contact Toronto Memory Program directly to register (416) 386-9761 or visit

http://www.torontomemoryprogram.com/stress-reduction.php