Caregivers Need Lots of Support

People caring for a friend or relative suffering from stroke need all the support from other family members and the community they can get, a medical study says.

Writing in the journal Stroke, Dutch researchers say that caregivers face increasing demands along with coping with the devastating effects stroke has on their friends and family members.

But there is a psychological upside, the researchers say. The caregivers "not only experience burden, but they may also experience gains as a result of caregiving. Pride, gratification, a closer feeling to their loved one -- these are positive things that develop when one cares for another."

The researchers' support recommendations include sharing responsibilities and occasional relief from caregiving tasks to help reduce the toll both emotionally and physically put on the individual providing care.