Allison Doroshewitz
Pronouns: She/her
Research Mentor(s): Kira Birditt
Research Mentor School/College/Department: Institute for Social Research / Other
Program:
Authors: Kira Birditt, Allison Doroshewitz
Session: Session 5: 2:40 pm – 3:30 pm
Poster: 34
Abstract
Caregivers of people living with dementia often experience stress in their daily lives. Religiosity and spirituality may provide an important coping mechanism for caregivers. especially among Black caregivers who may rely on religion more so than White caregivers. The purpose of this study was to examine whether religion and spirituality buffer feelings of burden in the daily lives of dementia caregivers and whether there are race differences. Participants are from the Stress and Well-being in the Everyday Lives of Caregivers (SWEL-CARE) study in which 184 caregivers of people living with dementia completed baseline interviews regarding their level of religiosity/spirituality, use of practices such as prayer and meditation and amount of times they attended religious services per month. They also reported their feelings of burden This data was then analyzed using the correlation coefficient between self-reported religiosity, spirituality, prayer, mediation and attendance at religious services and the sum of caregiver burden. It was found that there is no significant correlation between level of religiosity, spirituality, prayer or meditation and caregiver burden. There was a significant negative correlation between the number of religious services attended and caregiver burden indicating that caregivers who attended more religious services reported lower burden. Analysis of race differences in these associations revealed that the link was only significant for Black caregivers which indicates that Black caregivers in particular appeared to benefit from attending religious services. Attendance at religious services may provide particular benefits due to social support and social integration of caregivers that accompany those experiences.
