scholarly journals Caregiving Through the Pandemic: Exploring the Impacts of COVID-19 on Caregivers and Their Caregiving Experiences

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 185-185
Author(s):  
Alexa Balmuth
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
High Risk ◽  
Family Caregivers ◽  
Survey Data ◽  
Coping Behaviors ◽  
Unique Role ◽  
Personal Lives ◽  
Time Points ◽  
Care Recipients ◽  
And Coping

Abstract In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, many caregivers have been tasked with a unique role; not only to keep themselves safe and healthy, but also to protect and find new ways to aid their care recipients, many of whom are older adults at relatively high risk for severe complications from COVID-19. These challenging circumstances have driven caregivers to quickly adapt as they continue to manage their personal lives and caregiving responsibilities. Utilizing three waves of survey data from the MIT AgeLab Caregiver Panel, this presentation will examine the attitudes, experiences and worries of family caregivers at several time points along the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as caregivers’ preparations and coping behaviors along the way. Differences between caregiving situations will also be discussed.

scholarly journals End-of-Life Plans for African American Older Adults With Dementia

2018 ◽  
Vol 35 (10) ◽  
pp. 1314-1322 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karen O. Moss ◽  
Nancy L. Deutsch ◽  
Patricia J. Hollen ◽  
Virginia G. Rovnyak ◽  
Ishan C. Williams ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
African American ◽  
End Of Life ◽  
Family Caregivers ◽  
End Of Life Care ◽  
Life Care ◽  
Life Planning ◽  
Care Recipients ◽  
Life Plans ◽  
End Of Life Planning

African Americans are perceived to be least likely of all racial and ethnic groups to prepare for the end of life. However, verbal plans for the end of life are of particular importance to this population and may help understand why they are less likely to possess a formal end-of-life care planning document. The purpose of this study was to determine the number of formal and/or informal end-of-life care plans that existed among a convenience sample of African American older adults with dementia. For this descriptive study, data were collected from African American family caregivers (N = 65) of older adults with dementia. Descriptive statistics were conducted. Caregivers in this sample reported high rates of formal and/or informal end-of-life plans for their care recipients. Agency forms (power of attorney, health-care surrogate, or guardianship forms) had been obtained by 74% of the care recipients, while 63% of them possessed a formal end-of-life care planning document. All combined, 88% of the caregivers possessed at least 1 document or verbal information concerning end-of-life care for their care recipient or at least there was an assigned surrogate. Although limited, these findings reflect more end-of-life planning in this population than previous studies reported and could improve the quality of end-of-life outcomes in this population by giving health-care providers increased understanding of African American end-of-life planning preferences. This may, in turn, help the providers to inform and educate these care recipients and their family caregivers.

scholarly journals How Lonely are Older Americans Act National Family Caregiver Support Program Participants?

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 949-949
Author(s):  
Claire Pendergrast ◽  
Heather Menne
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Family Caregivers ◽  
Family Caregiver ◽  
Support Program ◽  
Living Alone ◽  
Older Americans ◽  
Caregiver Support ◽  
Care Recipients ◽  
Older Americans Act ◽  
National Family

Abstract Older Americans Act (OAA) family caregiver services connect family members caring for older adults with a diversity of community-based resources and supports. Social isolation and loneliness are known public health threats, and family caregivers may face greater vulnerability to loneliness given the often-intensive time demands of care provision. Policy stakeholders and aging services providers are increasingly focused on combating loneliness among older adults and family caregivers. To inform efforts to reduce loneliness, we conducted descriptive analyses to identify characteristics of the participants in the OAA National Family Caregiver Support Program associated with higher rates of loneliness, measured with the 3-item UCLA Loneliness Scale. Using data from the 2019 National Survey of Older Americans Act Participants, we examined how caregiver loneliness varied based on caregiver age, gender, income, race and ethnicity, living alone, rurality, and self-reported health, as well as care recipients’ health status and difficulties with ADLs. Among our sample of 1,824 family caregivers, rates of loneliness were high overall (70%). Loneliness was significantly higher for caregivers with poor health (71.4%), incomes less than $20,000 (75.3%), living alone (75.4%), aged 65 or older (73.2%), Hispanic caregivers (82.2%) and caregivers for care recipients with 3 or more ADLs (76.0%). Findings underscore the importance of increasing social engagement opportunities for family caregivers. Policies and programs focused on reducing caregiver loneliness should be accessible to all family caregivers but should prioritize outreach and engagement for groups at higher risk of loneliness.

Effects of Social Support and Coping of Family Caregivers of Older Adults with Dementia in Taiwan

2006 ◽  
Vol 63 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-25 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chiung-Yu Huang ◽  
Carol M. Musil ◽  
Jaclene A. Zauszniewski ◽  
May L. Wykle
Keyword(s):  
Social Support ◽  
Older Adults ◽  
Family Caregivers ◽  
And Coping

Atheistic, agnostic, and religious older adults on well-being and coping behaviors

2011 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 177-188 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sheena M. Horning ◽  
Hasker P. Davis ◽  
Michael Stirrat ◽  
R. Elisabeth Cornwell
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Coping Behaviors ◽  
And Coping

scholarly journals Computer-mediated Focus Groups to Advance Aging Research: Challenges and Opportunities

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 842-843
Author(s):  
David Coon ◽  
Abigail Gomez-Morales ◽  
Phil Carll ◽  
Lourdes Cordova ◽  
Allison Glinka ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Native American ◽  
Focus Groups ◽  
Family Caregivers ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Aging Research ◽  
Financial Barriers ◽  
Care Recipients ◽  
Computer Mediated ◽  
Challenges And Opportunities

Abstract When compared to in-person offerings, fewer focus groups to date have been conducted with user-friendly technologies to help reach diverse communities of older adults with chronic health conditions (e.g., Alzheimer’s disease, Type II diabetes, Parkinson’s) and the family caregivers and professional providers who assist them. The current project describes the adaptations needed to deliver successful computer-mediated focus groups via videoconference, thereby providing solutions to barriers faced by participants who often cannot attend in-person because they are housebound due to transportation or financial barriers, live in rural areas or reside too far from focus group offerings, or work full or part-time and face scheduling conflicts. During the pandemic, we successfully recruited diverse groups of family caregivers, care recipients, and professional providers into computer-mediated focus groups. Caregivers (83%) and care recipients (17%) between 34 to 90 years old (N=47) took part in the series of focus groups facilitated in English and Spanish (25.5%). Over 40% of participants self-identified as Hispanic or Latinx, Native American, or African American with roughly 15% attending from rural areas. Similarly, professional providers age 18 to 80 (N=25) attended separate groups in either English or Spanish (48%). Our results suggest that computer-mediated focus groups offer a unique opportunity to reach diverse samples of older adults, family caregivers, and their providers. These computer-mediated focus groups also offer the chance to learn novel ways to break barriers to health access by providing virtual reach capabilities for those facing health, transportation, work, or geographic barriers.

scholarly journals Safety Accidents and Coping Experiences among Family Caregivers Caring for Community-Dwelling Persons Living with Dementia

2021 ◽  
Vol 23 (4) ◽  
pp. 352-360
Author(s):  
Ji Yeon Lee ◽  
Ha Rim Lee ◽  
Kyung Hee Lee
Keyword(s):  
Family Caregivers ◽  
Qualitative Content Analysis ◽  
Community Dwelling ◽  
Information And Communications Technology ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Community Environment ◽  
Care Services ◽  
Care Recipients ◽  
Safety Accident ◽  
And Coping

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to understand experiences in safety accidents and coping among family caregivers of persons living with dementia.Methods: Data were collected through face-to-face interviews with 10 family caregivers who are the main caregivers of community-dwelling persons living with dementia. Inductive qualitative content analysis was conducted to reveal themes.Results: Three major themes emerged in this study: 1) various safety accident experiences, 2) coping with safety accidents, and 3) concern for the prevention of safety accidents. Family caregivers experienced various risks when caring for their care recipients with reduced cognitive function and trying to cope with a tailored method for persons living with dementia. However, family caregivers eventually recognized that none of the methods were perfect for preventing dangers and looked forward to the emergence of new methods to ensure a safe environment.Conclusion: Dementia care services and tailored information and communications technology (ICT) should be provided to promote the safety of persons living with dementia and their family caregivers in the community environment.

scholarly journals THE EFFECT OF ACTIVITIES OF DAILY LIVING ON FAMILY CAREGIVER SOCIAL ISOLATION

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S899-S899
Author(s):  
Tony Gallanis
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Family Caregivers ◽  
Social Isolation ◽  
Family Caregiver ◽  
Functional Decline ◽  
Adult Child ◽  
Medical Personnel ◽  
Care Recipient ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Care Recipients

Abstract Social isolation has been shown to associate with negative health outcomes including depression and stress. For family caregivers of older adults, the demands on the caregiver often are associated with increasing feelings of loneliness and decreased social contact. The degree to which the caregiver’s social isolation is related to the complexity of the caregiving situation remains unknown. Through a cross-sectional analysis of 526 family caregivers from the Family Caregiver Alliance client record database, an association has been established between care recipient functional decline and caregiver social isolation. Social isolation was measured through the Lubben Social Network Scale and functional decline was measured through ADL/IADL reporting. Covariates controlled for in the analysis included caregiver ethnicity, duration of caregiving, adult child status, caregiver education, care recipient income, and hours per week caregiving. Family caregivers of care recipients with higher functional decline experienced elevated odds of social isolation as compared to family caregivers of care recipients with little to no functional decline. The results from this study highlight the need for medical personnel and non-profit actors to anticipate social isolation as a risk factor for family caregivers of older adults given the care recipient is experiencing functional decline.

scholarly journals The Patterns of Caregiving Activities for Family Caregivers of Older Adults: A Latent Class Analysis

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 355-355
Author(s):  
Jing Huang ◽  
Pui Hing Chau ◽  
Edmond Pui Hang Choi ◽  
Bei Wu ◽  
Vivian Lou
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Hong Kong ◽  
Activities Of Daily Living ◽  
Latent Class Analysis ◽  
Family Caregivers ◽  
Caregiver Burden ◽  
Daily Living ◽  
Latent Class ◽  
Class I ◽  
Care Recipients

Abstract The purposes of this study were to identify the patterns of caregiving activities among family caregivers in Hong Kong and to examine their associations with characteristic factors and caregiver burden. The data was from the cross-sectional survey on the profiles of family caregivers of older adults in Hong Kong. 932 family caregivers were classified into different classes by using the Latent class analysis (LCA) according to their engagements in the 17 daily caregiving activities: 6 activities of daily living (ADLs), 8 instrumental activities of daily living activities (IADLs), emotional support, decision-making, and financial support. Five classes were revealed and labeled “Total All-round Caregiving” (Class I: 19.5%), “Partial All-round Caregiving” (Class II: 8.2%), “ADLs Free Caregiving” (Class III: 23.8%), “ADLs & Partial IADLs Free Caregiving” (Class IV: 32.5%), “Financial Caregiving” (Class V: 16.0%), respectively. Results from multinomial logistic regression found that the following factors were associated with the class membership: care recipients’ age, medical diagnoses, and caregivers’ gender, job status, marital status, self-rated economic status, living with care recipients, and caring for ≥40 hours per week. Findings from multiple linear regression showed caregivers with different patterns of caregiving activities reported different levels of caregiver burden. Caregivers in Class I have been found with the highest caregiver burden. This is the first study that has applied LCA to capture the patterns of caregiving activities among family caregivers. Identification of caregiving activity patterns and examination of their characteristics and caregiver burden can help healthcare providers to shift to prioritized and targeted caregiver support.

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