Abstract
Informal caregivers provide vital support for older adults living in the community with chronic illnesses. The purpose of this study was to assess the psychosocial status of informal caregivers of community-dwelling adults over an eight-year period. Informal caregivers of adult care-recipients were identified from Wave 1 of the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA) cohort. Multivariate regression analysis models were constructed to assess the association between participant’s psychosocial characteristics and informal caregiving. Multilevel modelling explored the psychosocial changes between caregivers and non-caregivers over eight years. 1375 informal caregivers and 2750 age-matched non-caregivers were analyzed. Self-reported loneliness (Odd Ratio (OR): 0.26; 95% confidence intervals (CI): 0.01–0.51) and relationship status (OR: 0.36; 95% CI: 0.16–0.46) were independently associated with caregiving. Caregivers were more socially isolated with less holidaying abroad (OR: 0.51; 95% CI: 0.35–0.66), attendance to church (OR: 0.30; 95% CI: 0.11–0.49), or charity groups (OR: 0.35; 95% CI: 0.14–0.55). On multilevel analysis, over time (eight-years), caregivers reported greater loneliness (p < 0.01), change in relationship status (p = 0.01) and reduced control, autonomy, and pleasure (p ≤ 0.01) compared to non-caregivers. Given the deleterious effects caregiving can place on health and wellbeing, further interventions are required to improve these psychosocial factors.
Highlights
Informal caregivers provide vital, unpaid support to maintain independent living for older people living in the community [1]
There are important differences in the perceived psychosocial status of caregivers compared to age-matched non-caregivers
For a number of psychosocial factors, these remained different between caregivers and non-caregivers over eight years, most notably for greater perceived loneliness
Summary
Unpaid support to maintain independent living for older people living in the community [1]. Caregivers have been defined as ‘carers, who may or may not be family members, are lay people in a close supportive role who share in the illness experience of the patient’ [2] They may provide an array of different roles of support, from assistance with activities of daily living such as washing, dressing, bed–chair transfers, cooking, and feeding, or more complex tasks such as finances, correspondence, and shopping [3]. They may be expected to provide emotional support [2]. Caregivers are expected to support their family members or friends more due to an increasing shift from professional to informal care [6]
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