Caregivers of persons with dementia and depression experience adverse effects associated with their role. The aim of this scoping review was to identify the challenges faced by caregivers of people with dementia and depression, along with interventions to support them. The MEDLINE®, Embase and PsycINFO databases were searched using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) method. Grey literature was assessed using the Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technologies in Health’s Gray Matter tool.

The population consisted of caregivers of people with dementia and depression; the concept was to identify the negative impacts that caregivers experience and whether there are interventions to reduce them; the context was any study design targeting family or friends who were caregivers. A total of 12,835 citations were identified; 139 studies were included. Dementia and depression have variable impacts on outcomes experienced by caregivers, including burden/strain (n = 52), depression (n = 27), distress (n = 53), quality of life (n = 5) and health/well-being (n = 9). Pharmacological and non-pharmacological interventions have mixed effects. This study is important considering that depression in people with dementia is associated with caregiver distress. The use of a variety of non-pharmacological interventions could be beneficial to the latter.

Intersectionality analysis is the study of overlapping or intersecting social identities. Intersecting social identities may have an impact on the perception of burden by family caregivers of older persons with multiple chronic conditions (MCC). The purpose of this study was to explore the interaction of social factors on the burden of caring for older adults with MCC. A total of 194 caregivers of older adults with MCC were recruited from Alberta and Ontario. Survey data were collected at two time points, six months apart. Additive and multiplicative models were analysed using a generalised linear model to determine the level of caregiver burden. Medium-high social interference (impact on social life) was associated with higher burden when adjusted for age, gender, education, and employment status. The overall results of the five-way interaction suggest that males in general had lower burden scores than females. Irrespective of their education and employment status, females had generally higher burden scores. These results add to the current body of literature, suggesting areas for further research to fill knowledge gaps, and promoting ideas for evidence-guided public health interventions that focus on caregivers.

For this study, we adapted the Montgomery Borgatta Caregiver Burden Scale, used widely in the United States, to the Saudi Arabian context. To produce an Arabic, culturally sensitive version of the scale, we conducted semi-structured interviews with 20 Saudi family caregivers. The Arabic version of the scale was tested, and participants were asked to comment on the appropriateness of items for the construct of “caregiver burden” using the repertory grid technique and laddering procedure – two constructivist methods derived from personal construct theory. From interview findings, we examined the content of the items and the caregiver burden construct itself. Our findings suggest that the use of constructivist methods to refine constructs and quantitative instruments is highly informative. This strategy is feasible even when little is known about the investigated constructs in the target culture and further elucidates our understanding of cross-cultural variations or invariance of different versions of the scale.