THE EXPERIENCE OF STIGMA IN CARE PARTNERS OF PEOPLE WITH DEMENTIA - RESULTS FROM AN EXPLORATORY STUDY

Stigma has been identified as being central to the experience of having a dementia, both for the person with dementia (PwD) and for their care partners. Despite this growing recognition, we still know very little about the area. Our objectives were to identify the types and degree of stigma experienced by care partners of PwD, identify PwD and care partner variables that may influence the effect of care partner stigma, and determine if there are styles of coping that are associated with dementia stigma. Results indicate that care partners (N=20) report experiencing three types of stigma (stigma by association, lay person’s stigma, and structural stigma). Trends in the data indicate that several types of coping styles are associated with these types of stigma. Only care partner’s education was positively associated with structural stigma. Helping care partners to develop better coping styles may reduce the powerful effect of stigma.