Addressing couple and family issues with cognitive impairment

What is it about?

Conditions involving cognitive impairment, such as dementia and traumatic brain injury, pose enormous challenges to couples and families. My paper provides a lens to help advance clinical practice beyond a more narrow focus on individual caregivers and their relationship with the affected member. Drawing on my Family Systems Illness model, I describe a resilience-based framework and practice guidelines with key couple and family issues to maximize coping and adaptation over time.

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Why is it important?

Conditions involving cognitive impairment, such as dementia and traumatic brain injury, are among the most difficult for couples and families. Because they alter the capacities for relationships in varied ways, they often profoundly affect family life. The high health and mental health morbidity for ongoing cognitive impairment related caregiving is well documented. Although there are a number of approaches to help individual caregivers, a broad family systems approach is needed. This paper addresses that need.