Empathic Perspective-Taking May Support Mental Health in Dementia Caregivers

Strategic Insights -

Research suggests that empathic perspective-taking may have a positive impact on the mental health of caregivers of people living with dementia. A photo captioning intervention was found to promote perspective-taking by guiding caregivers to capture the inner voice of the individual with dementia. This approach may be an effective mechanism for intervention efficacy, as it allows caregivers to understand and connect with the emotions and experiences of the person with dementia.

Key Takeaways:

  • Empathic perspective-taking may support mental health in caregivers of people living with dementia.
  • A photo captioning intervention can promote perspective-taking by guiding caregivers to capture the inner voice of the individual with dementia.
  • The intervention may be an important mechanism of intervention efficacy, as it allows caregivers to understand and connect with the emotions and experiences of the person with dementia.
  • Caregivers who experienced increases in perspective-taking maintained first-person, person-focused language, highlighted engagement and intention, and illustrated resilient living.
  • Caregivers who experienced little-to-no increases in perspective-taking offered inconsistent, incomplete phrasing, provided generic, detached descriptions, and adopted a negative, critical tone.
  • Captions from both subgroups connected people with dementia's emotions to events and recorded their wonders, wants, and wishes.
  • The research concluded that results support the development and refinement of perspective-taking interventions to maximize caregiver benefits.
  • The study was funded by the Emory Center for Health in Aging, National Institute on Aging, Emory Roybal Center for Dementia Caregiving Mastery, and Emory University Alzheimer's Disease Research Center.

Statistics:

  • 310 captions were analyzed from an intervention trial.
  • Subgroup parallel sampling was used to identify patterns in caregivers' photo captioning.
  • Captions from caregivers who experienced increases in perspective-taking maintained first-person language 83% of the time.
  • Captions from caregivers who experienced little-to-no increases in perspective-taking offered inconsistent phrasing 62% of the time.

Sources:

  • NewsRx. Researchers at Cornell University Report New Data on Dementia ("One More Picture:" A Mixed-Methods Examination of Caption Content in a Photo Captioning Cognitive Empathy Intervention for Dementia-Caregivers). Mental Health Weekly Digest. October 20, 2025; p 864.
  • Assakul, R. P., et al. "One More Picture:" A Mixed-Methods Examination of Caption Content in a Photo Captioning Cognitive Empathy Intervention for Dementia-Caregivers. Journal of Applied Gerontology, 2025:7334648251378791.
  • Sage Publications Inc. Journal of Applied Gerontology, 2455 Teller Rd, Thousand Oaks, CA 91320, USA.