Oldest-old (age 80+) spousal care-givers of people with dementia experience unique challenges and concerns that they attribute to age and/or ageing, including difficulties providing care because of physical, cognitive or sensory decline; having fewer friends who can provide practical support; and having less energy for non-care-giving activities (e.g. leisure activities, self-care). Previous research on how older care-givers manage is not specific to oldest-old care-givers and may underrepresent their unique experiences managing age and ageing-related challenges. A limited understanding can compromise our ability to tailor services to ageing care-givers. The purpose of this research was to illuminate how oldest-old spousal care-givers of people with dementia manage ageing-related care-giving challenges and the barriers and facilitators to strategy use. The selective optimisation with compensation theory and the transactional theory of stress and coping informed our conceptualisation of management strategies. We used a narrative gerontology approach, with two or three semi-structured interviews with 11 care-givers aged 80–89 (25 interviews in total). Narrative data were analysed thematically. We identified four main themes that encompassed the strategies shared by care-givers: adjusting goals to lessen care-giving demands and to mitigate stress, using alternative means to reach goals and to mitigate stress, enhancing capacities to care and mitigate stress through engagement in non-care-giving activities, and choosing positive attitudes and perspectives to lessen emotional distress. We identified a myriad of facilitators and barriers to strategy utilisation in each theme. The study provides unique insight into care-givers' management strategies, especially in relation to relocation of self and spouse and participation in non-care-giving activities, as well as insight into age-related facilitators and barriers. This research can ultimately help inform the tailoring of age-sensitive health and social care services to meet the needs of this group of care-givers as they age.

老年痴呆症患者的最年长（80 岁以上）配偶照顾者面临着独特的挑战和担忧，他们将其归因于年龄和/或衰老，包括由于身体、认知或感觉衰退而难以提供护理；能够提供实际支持的朋友较少；用于非护理活动（例如休闲活动、自我护理）的精力较少。先前关于老年护理人员如何应对的研究并非专门针对年龄最大的护理人员，并且可能低估了他们应对年龄和与衰老相关的挑战的独特经验。有限的理解可能会损害我们为老年护理人员提供定制服务的能力。本研究的目的是阐明痴呆症患者的高龄配偶照顾者如何应对与衰老相关的照顾挑战以及策略使用的障碍和促进因素。薪酬理论的选择性优化以及压力和应对的交易理论为我们管理策略的概念化提供了信息。我们采用叙事老年学方法，对 11 名 80-89 岁的护理人员进行两到三次半结构化访谈（总共 25 次访谈）。对叙述性数据进行了主题分析。我们确定了涵盖护理人员共同策略的四个主题：调整目标以减少护理需求并减轻压力，使用替代方法实现目标并减轻压力，通过参与非活动来增强护理和减轻压力的能力。 - 护理活动，并选择积极的态度和观点来减轻情绪困扰。我们确定了每个主题中战略运用的无数促进因素和障碍。该研究提供了对护理人员管理策略的独特见解，特别是与自我和配偶的搬迁以及参与非护理活动有关的策略，以及对与年龄相关的促进因素和障碍的见解。这项研究最终可以帮助制定对年龄敏感的健康和社会护理服务，以满足这群护理人员随着年龄增长的需求。