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This study examines how people caring for a spouse with Alzheimer's disease reconstruct the meaning of closeness within their marriage. In-depth interviews were conducted with 13 men and 15 women. The authors discovered that significant changes in the social identity of the impaired spouse may have important implications for how caregivers view their marriage and their ability to reestablish a sense of marital closeness. The majority of caregivers experienced significant disruptions in their marriage as a result of their respective spouse's dementia. The authors further discovered that the caregiver wives in the study sample were more likely than caregiver husbands to report that perceived changes in the spouses' identity altered how they identified themselves within their marriage, leading to longer term disruption of marital closeness. The findings suggest that retaining a sense of marital closeness is often quite difficult for caregiving spouses, pointing to the need for specific types of caregiver education and support.

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Twenty‐one node‐negative breast cancer patients were interviewed shortly after completing adjuvant chemotherapy and asked about side effects they had experienced, expectation of side effects, and strategies for coping with the side effects. Eighteen of the women were interviewed 6 months later to determine their feelings about the chemotherapy experience and ending treatment and what side effects persisted or developed after chemotherapy. Hair loss, fatigue, treatment‐related problems, nausea and infections/low blood counts were the most frequently described problems during the first interviews. Patients used coping strategies suggested by physicians and nurses. Six months later, hair problems, fatigue, weight gain, menopausal problems, emotional problems and nail problems were most often reported. Most patients (16/18) did not expect to be experiencing chemotherapy‐related problems 6 months after ending treatment. Fatigue interfered with daily lives and weight gain caused concern. A total of 35% of participants experienced fear or anxiety at the end of chemotherapy, but most (62%) recalled at least some positive feelings 6 months later. Given the same circumstances, all but two would make the same decision to undergo adjuvant chemotherapy. Support groups would be especially useful for patients completing chemotherapy who would lose continued frequent support from clinic personnel. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.