The Evolution in Dementia Caregiving Research: NIA’s Catalyst Role

This article celebrates the National Institute on Aging (NIA)'s successes over the past 50 years in advancing the science base and informing the need for and response to dementia caregiving. In parallel with other public and private efforts, insightful NIA leadership supported by funding initiatives established the field of dementia caregiving research. In support of the health and well-being of family caregivers, NIA was a catalyst of innovation that led to numerous evidence-based caregiving interventions informed by basic research on care tasks and consequences. As evidence of the impending burden of dementia care on US families mounted, NIA-funded multidisciplinary collaboratives of researchers generated comprehensive models of family caregiving across diverse populations. Today, the dementia caregiving evidence base is shaping public policy and making possible dementia caregiving support services in health systems and community-based organizations. NIA continues to support the scientific study of dementia caregiving with a collaboration of leading scientists and by making available state-of-the-art datasets and encouraging standardized research methodologies. NIA's leadership in the field of dementia caregiving research has never been more significant, as the number of persons living with dementia in the United States approaches 7 million and the value of family caregiving is estimated to be $350 billion.