The association between caregiving satisfaction, difficulties and coping among older family caregivers (original) (raw)
Related papers
The Journals of Gerontology Series A: Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences, 2009
This study aims to investigate the impact of caregiving on the health status and quality of life (QOL) of primary informal caregivers (PCGs) of elderly care recipients in Hong Kong. A total of 246 PCGs and 492 matched noncaregiver (NCG) controls were identifi ed in a population-based cross-sectional study through random telephone dialing. Their health status and QOL were assessed based on structured questionnaires and Short Form 36 (SF-36) Health Survey. Multiple conditional logistic regression analysis showed that compared with NCGs, PCGs had signifi cantly increased risks for reporting worse health, more doctor visits, anxiety and depression, and weight loss. Female PCGs were more likely to report chronic diseases, symptoms, and insomnia. PCGs, particularly women, had signifi cantly lower scores in all eight domains of SF-36 Health Survey. High caregiver burden score (Zarit Burden Scale) was positively associated with adverse physical and psychological health and poorer QOL. The results indicate that PCGs, particularly women, had an adverse physical and psychological health profi le and poorer QOL compared with NCGs.
Impact of Caregiving on Various Aspects of the Lives of Caregivers
Cureus, 2017
This study was designed to assess the impact of caregiving on the lives of the caregivers. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted between July and September 2015 at a teaching hospital in Karachi, Pakistan. Participants who were more than 18 years old and were involved in caregiving (former or current) of a family member were invited to participate in the study. The participants were recruited through consecutive sampling technique. A total of 400 caregivers were interviewed. Written informed consent was obtained from all the participants. A pretest structured questionnaire was used for data collection and included sections on demographic details and impact of caregiving on various aspects of the lives of caregivers. The data was analyzed using SPSS version 19 (IBM, NY, USA). Results Information about a total of 400 caregivers (215 men and 185 women) was included in the final analysis. The majority (57.0%) of the participants were aged between 18 and 30 years. About three-fifths (60%) of the participants were single and the majority of the participants were students. Approximately 64% of the participants were currently involved in caregiving and about 48% of the participants responded that caregiving has an overall negative impact on various aspects, such as physical (40.8%), psychological (47.8%), and professional aspects (51.8%) of their lives. Conclusion Negative impact of caregiving was observed among caregivers due to extensive demands of caregiving and limited resources. Therefore, it is imperative for health care providers to explore, identify and support caregivers to cope in a better way to the challenging task of caregiving.
Caring for the carer: quality of life and burden of female caregivers
Revista Brasileira de Enfermagem
Objective: To assess the quality of life and the burden of female caregivers. Method: Descriptive, cross-sectional, quantitative study carried out with 224 informal caregivers from March to July 2016. Three instruments were used: a characterization form for the caregiver, the WHOQOL-Bref questionnaire and the Zarit Burden Interview. The following tests were used: Cronbach’s Alpha, Kolmogorov-Smirnov, Kruskal-Wallis, Spearman and Mann-Whitney. Results: The mean age of caregivers was 51.8 years with a standard deviation of 13.7. They were predominantly married, had a low income and low level of education, were first-degree relatives, had been providing care for one to five years and presented some pathology. The associations of quality of life that presented statistical significance were: income, marital status, number of people living with the caregiver and time of care. Conclusion: The burden was negatively correlated with QOL, that is, the greater the burden, the more impaired will...
Archives of Gerontology and Geriatrics, 2015
A majority of us will at some point in our lives take care of family members, relatives and friends in need of assistance. How will this affect us? Strain related to life satisfaction (LS) and health related quality of life (HRQoL) among caregivers aged 60 years and older has not been previously studied. Objectives: The main objective was to describe characteristics of non-caregivers (n = 2233) and caregivers (n = 369). Further objectives were to examine differences in HRQoL and LS between caregivers and noncaregivers, and between caregivers stratified by level of strain. Methods: We analyzed the differences in socio-demographics, social participation, locus of control and symptoms between groups. HRQoL was assessed by Short Form Health Survey (SF-12/PCS and MCS). LS was measured by the Life Satisfaction Index-A (LSI-A). Results: Caregivers were younger, had more years of formal education, more often cohabiting and relied less on powerful others than non-caregivers. One hundred and thirty-three (36%) caregivers reported high strain. In a three-group comparison including non-caregivers and caregivers stratified for strain, high strain was associated with lower SF12-PCS, SF12-MCS and LSI-A (0.014, <0.001 and <0.001, respectively). Conclusion: High strain affects caregivers' HRQoL and LS in a negative way. Practice: It is important for the health care sector to consider the possibility that symptoms in a person acting as a caregiver can be related to high perceived strain. Implications: A general policy program aiming to identify caregivers and their needs for support is much needed.
Ansiedad y Estrés, 2019
Background/objective: Informal caregiving has a negative impact on the health of caregivers, a role that is mainly played by women. In this context, the objectives of this study were to: (1) assess the physical, mental and overall state of health of female caregivers; (2) study the relationship between their health and caregiving-related burden; and (3) investigate the mediating effect of social support in the relationship between perceived burden related to informal caregiving and the general health of caregivers. Method: The sample was composed of 250 women living in the Basque Country (Spain), aged between 30 and 84 years old (M = 58.66; SD = 10.46). Data were collected on sociodemographic characteristics; the Zarit Burden Interview, SF-12 and Medical Outcomes Study Social Support Survey were used to measure caregiver burden; quality of life social support respectively. Results: Overall, 27.2% of female caregivers reported chronic health problems. There was a link between higher perceived burden and poorer general health in women especially when less social support was available. Further, social support mediated the relationship between perceived burden and general health. Conclusions: Women's caregiver burden has a negative impact on their overall health and social support.
Caregiver Stress and Mental Health: Impact of Caregiving Relationship and Gender
The Gerontologist, 2015
This study compared the stress and mental health implications of caregiving to a spouse, children, siblings, other family members, friends, and others among middle-aged and older male and female caregivers. Multivariate regression analyses were conducted using 2007 Canadian General Social Survey data collected on a subsample of caregivers aged 45 and older. Our analyses revealed that for women, caring for a spouse or children was more stressful and detrimental to mental health than caring for parents or others. Similarly, for men, caring for a spouse and for children was more stressful than caring for others but did not adversely affect overall mental health. The findings suggest that spousal and child caregiving tend to be more rather than less stressful and detrimental to middle-aged and older caregivers' mental health than is caregiving to most others but that gender differences need to be considered.
The Long-Term Effects of Caregiving on Women's Health and Mortality
Journal of Marriage and Family, 2016
Caregivers experience numerous mental and physical health effects from the stress of providing care, but we know little about whether these problems persist in the long term and whether longterm effects differ across caregiving contexts. Using the National Longitudinal Survey of Mature Women, we examine the relationship between caregiving and long-term patterns of depressive symptoms, functional limitations, and mortality. We also explore the health effects of caregiving in-home versus out-of-home and by caregiver/care-recipient relationship. Analyses show that inhome spousal and parental caregiving predict increased depressive symptoms and functional limitations in the long term but are unassociated with mortality, while caregiving out-of-home is unassociated with later depression and functional limitations but predicts lower risk of mortality. This study highlights the usefulness of approaching stressful experiences like caregiving from the life course perspective, viewing them as processes that unfold over time within specific contexts and may carry delayed or cumulative consequences. Keywords Aging; caregiving; depression; health The U.S. health care system relies heavily on unpaid care to meet the health needs of the ill and disabled. In 2009, the value of that care was estimated at 450billion,avaluefargreaterthanthe450 billion, a value far greater than the 450billion,avaluefargreaterthanthe361 billion spent on Medicare that year (Feinberg & Choula, 2012). Most adults provide care at some point in their lives and many do so multiple times, but women are especially likely to provide unpaid care. National estimates are that about 60 percent of unpaid caregivers are women (NAC, 2015). Women are more likely to help with personal care, devote more hours of care each week, spend more years providing care, and perform more care tasks than men (Pinquart & Sorensen, 2006). As the population ages, life
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 2019
The aim of this study conducted in Spain was to analyze and compare burden, severe burden, and satisfaction among informal caregivers in relation to health-related quality of life (HRQoL), type and duration of caregiving, perceived social support, and use of social and health care services. We performed multivariate analyses to identify variables associated with caregiver burden, severe burden, and satisfaction with caregiving, stratified by gender. The results showed that secondary or third-level education, performance of ungratifying tasks, negative coping with caregiving, and more years providing care were associated with greater burden. Variables with protective effect were better perceived health of the person being cared for, better caregiver HRQoL, and high perceived social support. Women were 75% more likely to experience severe burden compared with male caregivers. Burden was reduced by high perceived social support in the case of women and by high caregiver HRQoL in the ca...
Life satisfaction among informal caregivers in comparison with non-caregivers
Scandinavian Journal of Caring Sciences, 2006
Being a caregiver with responsibility for someone with reduced health compared with not being a caregiver may mean different views of life satisfaction. Knowledge of what leads to reduced life satisfaction in caregivers may be helpful in interventions. Informal caregivers gainfully employed or not, aged 50-89 years, were studied with regard to life satisfaction depending on the extent of caregiving to identify types of social support of value for caregivers. A cross-sectional study was conducted including a sample of 151 informal caregivers with a high caregiving extent, 392 caregivers with a lower caregiving extent and 1258 non-caregivers. The sample was randomly selected to correspond with older Swedes as a whole aged 50-89 years. A questionnaire containing a modified form of Older Americans' Resources Schedule (OARS) and Life Satisfaction Index Z (LSIZ) was used; 19.6% helped someone with activities of daily living and of these 27% stated that they did so frequently. Frequent caregiving implied significantly higher age, being more often married and retired, than less frequent caregivers and non-caregivers. Frequent caregivers also performed personal activities of daily living (PADL) to a higher extent than less frequent caregivers and had significantly lower LSIZ (mean 14.8) than less frequent caregivers (mean 17.6) and noncaregivers (mean 17.7). No significant differences were found between less frequent caregivers and non-caregivers in LSIZ. One-fourth had support from others, the commonest type being able to converse with a next of kin, and help and advice from professionals. Lower life satisfaction was associated with not being employed, low social resources, not refreshed after a night's sleep, overall poor health and frequent caregiving in the entire sample. High caregiving extent was associated with lower life satisfaction. The most important factors explaining lower life satisfaction among frequent caregivers were having low social resources and having poor health. Economic compensation or payment was the support most desired.