Overwhelming odds: caregiving and the risk of institutionalization
Article Abstract:
The fact that elderly persons with widely varying degrees of impairment live in the community and in nursing homes has been cited as evidence that informal support, as provided by family and friends, decreases the risk of elders being institutionalized. Paid, professional (formal) support for impaired elderly citizens living in the community may also play a role in decreasing institutionalization. Whether informal or formal long-term support has a greater effect in preventing institutionalization is a key question in planning services for the elderly. Similarly, another essential factor in planning care involves determining the conditions that enable caregivers to function successfully. This study used results from 1982 and 1984 surveys on long-term care of the elderly to explore five effects of informal and formal care in relation to support and the risk of institutionalization: 1. support has an independent, direct effect on the risk of institutionalization; 2. a support system may buffer the effects of risk factors such as poor health; 3. the effectiveness of informal support in preventing institutionalization may depend on formal support; 4. situational variables, including housing parameters, may facilitate a family's willingness to care for an elderly relative; 5. informal and formal care may intervene between poor health and institutionalization, particularly when housing features facilitate such care. The results indicate that, rather than being a deterrent, paid care was a risk of institutionalization; informal care was associated with a decreased risk. Neither type of support buffered the impact of impairment. Interestingly, it was noted that exhaustion of caregiving resources did not contribute to the decision to place an elderly person in a nursing home. The effectiveness of informal support did not seem to rely on formal care or on housing features. However, spouse caregivers were aided by certain dwelling features, especially adequate space and home ownership. Living alone was a persistent, significant predictor of institutionalization risk among elders. This finding may reflect several contributory factors. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)
Publication Name: Journals of Gerontology
Subject: Seniors
ISSN: 0022-1422
Year: 1990
User Contributions:
Comment about this article or add new information about this topic:
Living arrangements and sources of caregiving
Article Abstract:
Elderly people are often dependent upon others for help in meeting their needs for basic care. Several studies have concluded that sources of such care are usually family members, with spouses providing the main source of support, and children also being a major source of caregiving. Other studies have suggested that the important factor was not being a relative, but that living arrangement was the most important factor in determining the source of caregiving for elderly people. This study examined whether living arrangement or relation to the individual was more important in determining who would be the primary source of caregiving. A survey about potential and actual caregivers was given to 1,284 elderly subjects: 301 were married and living with their spouse; 423 lived alone; and 560 lived with someone besides a spouse. Results showed that a large number of married persons (32 percent) did not name their spouse as a potential caregiver. For those people living alone or with a nonspouse, children were most often named as a potential caregiver, with friends being named second most often. Potential caregivers were also household members for 66 percent of the subjects, with children being the main source of caregivers not living in the household. For actual caregiving, married persons received their main source of care from their spouse in 90 percent of the cases. People living alone were most likely to get their caregiving from children and friends, and those living with nonspouses were most likely to get primary care from children or siblings. The results indicate that the living arrangement of the elderly person is more likely to determine the source of primary caregiving than are family relationships. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)
Publication Name: Journals of Gerontology
Subject: Seniors
ISSN: 0022-1422
Year: 1991
User Contributions:
Comment about this article or add new information about this topic:
Home upkeep and housing quality of older homeowners
Article Abstract:
The quality of home upkeep has been seen to decline with old age, even when such variables as income and other characteristics are controlled for. There has not been a differential study into the relative effects of individual variables, however. The present study was designed to investigate the individual effects of such factors as income, location, household composition, health, and disinvestment of housing on home upkeep. Data were drawn from a larger study and included 793 observations. Heads of household ranged from under 60 years to over 75 years. There was a clear pattern of lower home upkeep with increased age, with most households performing a small amount of upkeep rather than fewer performing a large amount. This was attributed to three factors: declining percent of households engaging in any upkeep, the declining number of jobs conducted by those who perform upkeep activities, and the declining average size of upkeep jobs. Declining income, household composition changes, declining health, and age-related dwelling characteristic patterns were all tested as possible causes of the decline, but only the income effect was significant. Older people tended to save discretionary income by cutting back on home upkeep. The data were drawn from a single metropolitan area and may not be more generally applicable. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)
Publication Name: Journals of Gerontology
Subject: Seniors
ISSN: 0022-1422
Year: 1991
User Contributions:
Comment about this article or add new information about this topic:
- Abstracts: Age differences in problem-solving style: the role of emotional salience. Introduction to the special section on emotion-cognition interactions and the aging mind
- Abstracts: Measuring blood pressure and treating hypertension in (frail) older people. A controlled study of MRI signal hyperintensities in older depressed patients with and without hypertension
- Abstracts: Risk factors for nursing home admissions and exits: a discrete-time hazard function approach. Other roles of caregivers: competing responsibilities or supportive resources