Alzheimer's disease, the most common form of dementia, is a neuro-degenerative brain disease, characterised by the slow, progressive and irreversible loss of cognitive functions, followed by behavioural troubles leading to a state of complete dependency. Since no curable treatment exists, the care is assumed most of the time by family members (when they exist), except for acute phases, and takes place outside the care structures, according to the pattern for chronic disease. <br />Up until now, sociological studies on chronic diseases have mostly focused on the illness experience from the patients' viewpoint, while relatives and family engagement were only secondarily treated (Conrad, 1987; Strauss and Corbin, 1988; Bury, 1991, 1997). The main concepts are the biographical rupture (Bury, 1982), negotiation, coping and the management work of the illness (Strauss and al., 1985; Baszanger, 1992). <br />The studies in aging sociology and family sociology focus on the family's role in caregiving for elderly dependent persons at the home place. These studies focus on the profile of the persons engaged in the caregiving and also describe the various activities and tasks assumed (Gubrium, 1988 ; Martin and Lesemann, 1993 ; Martin, 1995 ; Bungener, 1999 ; Cresson, 1995). <br />Work on familial solidarity has underlined the weak attention given by social policies to the investment of relatives, too often considered as taken for granted or natural (Martin and Lesemann, 1993). Family lay work, although central in health care, is often invisible and under-estimated, leading to the neglect of carers? needs. In studies on dementia, relative carers have a better visibility but social science research on the topic often focuses on the burden associated with the work, privileging stress and burden effect approaches, despite its simplistic character (Abel, 1990; 1999; Jo&euml;l, 2000). In addition, since caregiving is often assumed by women, this situation has been studied in a gender perspective (Abel, 1999; Cresson, 1995; Membrado, 1998, 1999), considering the conciliation between caregiving for an elderly parent and work life. <br />One other important and mostly Anglo-Saxon set of studies has been developed on specific pathologies, one of them being AD. Addressing informal care and caregivers these studies focus mostly on the consequences of caring on the carers? health as well on the caregiving burden (Zarit and al., 1985; Biegel and al., 1991; Bocquet and al., 1995; Andrieu and al., 2002; Cl&eacute;ment, 2000; Jo&euml;l and al., 1996). <br />In all those studies caregiving is often described as a set of physical, moral and social consequences that close relatives have to endure, which is a reductive approach of the situation. Moreover, these studies don?t allow for a global understanding of caregivers? reactions and responses toward the situation. <br />The capacity to choose and to take decision, as well as the role of carers in the definition of the situation is not dealt with. Studies on caregivers and more specifically those on Alzheimer?s disease are numerous, but few of them have a qualitative approach, and still fewer have a sociological approach.