Includes materials pertaining to the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP). Between 1982 and 1990, Linda K. George, PhD had four grants from AARP to study the family caregivers of memory-impaired older adults. This was the beginning of caregiver research in gerontology, which has now become a staple of aging research. The four grants built upon each other and became an integrated research program that demonstrated the negative physical and mental health consequences of caregiver stress and included clinical trials to determine the efficacy of interventions intended to reduce caregiver burden. The first study was cross-sectional and examined the correlates of caregiver burden, with special emphasis on relationships between participation in community self-help groups and caregiver well-being. The second study focused on follow-up surveys of caregivers who participated in the first study. It was the first study in the field to examine changes in caregiver well-being and the predictors of increases and decreases in caregiver burden. The third study was a clinical trial to determine the extent to which subsidized respite care for family caregivers lessened caregiver burden. The most interesting finding of this study was that a majority of family caregivers refused the receipt of respite care despite the fact that these some caregivers stated that the most valuable service they needed was respite care. An important part of this study was identifying the obstacles family caregivers faced in accepting respite services. The fourth and final study also was a clinical trial to determine whether an intervention could help caregivers overcome their concerns and other obstacles that prevented them from accepting services that they badly needed. Materials date from 1983 to 1990.