Abstract
BackgroundCaregiving is a demanding role that can negatively impact a person’s health and well-being. As such, adequate access to health care is important for maintaining the family caregiver’s own personal health. The aims of this study were to identify if family caregivers of older adults had more difficulty accessing health care services than non-caregivers and to identify if family caregivers felt access to additional services would be beneficial for maintaining their own personal health care.MethodsNational survey of 3026 US adults aged 30 to 89 years old. Participants were grouped based on self-reported caregiving experience. Survey asked about access to care, importance of health care services and whether caregivers had support needed. Descriptive statistics were used to compare caregiver and non-caregiver’s responses. Multivariate logistic regression model assessed correlates of caregivers not having the support they needed.ResultsCaregivers were older, female, lower educational attainment, lower income, had more multiple chronic health conditions and health condition or disability that impacts their daily life. Caregivers reported difficulty accessing mental health services, dental services, medications, and supportive services at home. Caregivers felt it was important to have care coordinator, long-term relationship with primary care provider and access to house calls, telemedicine, and medications delivered to the home. Age, ethnicity, chronic conditions and confidence in finances were factors influencing whether caregiver had support needed to provide assistance to older care recipient.ConclusionCaregivers provide needed support and care to older adults while also needing support for themselves. Health care services delivered in the home were highly desirable to caregivers and could help them maintain their health and well-being.
Highlights
Caregiving is a demanding role that can negatively impact a person’s health and well-being
The responsibilities of providing care to an older adult can extend over long periods of time and these responsibilities can expand as progression of chronic diseases and dementia slowly reduce functioning in the care recipient [11]
Caregivers in our sample were more likely to be older, female, less educated, have more chronic conditions and physical disabilities than noncaregivers As hypothesized, family caregivers had more difficulty accessing and obtaining services, valued care coordination and wanted health care services in the home for their care compared to non-caregivers
Summary
Caregiving is a demanding role that can negatively impact a person’s health and well-being. Caregivers are more likely to experience physical, emotional, and economic harm due to the burden of providing care [7,8,9,10]. Caregivers who felt their role was emotionally and physically difficult were more likely to not meet the needs of their care recipient, suggesting high stress and burden can result in compromised care [12]. Family caregivers whose burden and well-being were addressed through innovative medical and/or social support models that provide telephonic support, counseling, education and/or in-home health care have shown reduced health care expenditure and delay nursing home placement of care recipients [14,15,16,17]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
