Preparedness as a Bridge: How Religious Coping Shapes Acceptance of Death in Dementia Caregiving.

OBJECTIVES

This study examined the role of religious coping and preparedness in shaping caregivers' acceptance of death following the loss of a care recipient with Alzheimer's disease or related dementias. Two competing path models were tested to determine whether preparedness serves as a mediator or an outcome in the relationship between religious coping and acceptance.

METHODS

Data were drawn from the bereavement battery of the Resources for Enhancing Alzheimer's Caregiver Health (REACH II) study. The analytic sample included 41 bereaved caregivers who completed measures of positive and negative religious coping, preparedness for death, and acceptance of death. Path analyses were conducted in R using the lavaan package.

RESULTS

Bivariate analyses indicated that both positive and negative religious coping were significantly associated with greater preparedness, and preparedness was strongly related to acceptance. The first path model, where preparedness predicted coping and acceptance, showed poor global fit. In contrast, the second model, where coping predicted preparedness, which in turn predicted acceptance, showed excellent fit.

CONCLUSIONS

Preparedness emerged as a mechanism linking religious coping with acceptance, highlight an important pathway for supporting caregivers in bereavement.

CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS: Findings suggest that interventions focused on religious coping enhance preparedness which improves caregivers' acceptance in the bereavement process.