I am looking for resources for caregivers to help them understand the boudarylines in caring for an ESRD patient on dialysis - encouraging and supporting a patient, but not doing for him what he should do for himself.

Family members often have difficulty knowing when to help their loved one and when to expect the patient to do things for himself/herself. New Life, New Hope: A Booklet for Family and Friends provides information on living with kidney disease and offers suggestions to help family members promote patient rehabilitation. You can order it in print from the Life Options Rehabilitation Program by calling (800)468-7777 or by using the order form on the Life Options website at http://www.lifeoptions.org. You can view the entire booklet at http://www.lifeoptions.org/nlnh/index.

Do you know of a full length book on this subject possibly dealing caregivers and chronic disease in general?

Here is a list of some books that might be helpful to you. I have provided the ISBN numbers so you can locate them easily:

1) "Mainstay: For the Well Spouse of the Chronically Ill" by Maggie Strong [ISBN 0-14-011978-7]
2) "A Survival Guide for Family Caregivers" by Jo Horne [ISBN 0-89638-241-9]
3) Norman Cousins wrote about his own experiences as a physician who experiences chronic illness himself. Two of his books include "Anatomy of an Illness" [ISBN 0-553-34365-3] and "Head First: The Biology of Hope and the Healing Power of the Human Spirit" [ISBN 0-14-013965-6]