A profile of Australian family caregivers: diversity of roles and circumstances

Abstract

Abstract:Research on family caregiving has been based largely on small samples, often drawn from support organisations or services, and has tended to focus on particular disability groups. Our study was population-based and included all ages and disabilities. As the first stage in a longitudinal research and health promotion program for informal caregivers, a statewide random survey of over 26 000 households was conducted by telephone: 78 per cent of self-identified carers ( N = 976) agreed to participate in a one-hour interview. This paper presents a sociodemographic profile of Australian caregivers. Four types of relationship between carers and care recipients (adult offspring, spouses, parents and other relatives and friends) provide the framework for results. Group differences were observed on most characteristics: for example, age, living arrangements, work status and duration of care. Care recipient characteristics, including difficult behaviours and need for assistance, are also reported, as well as use of and need for community services. What the findings reflected most was the heterogeneity of both caregivers and care recipients and the diversity of caregiving roles and circumstances. (Aust N Z J Public Health 1997; 21: 59-66) LTHOUGH the past two decades have seen a burgeoning of research interest in family

Time spent on health related activities associated with chronic illness: a scoping literature review

“…A further two papers [27,28] provided characteristics or profiles of carers, but did not report their time use. None of these articles specified the HRA carried out or provide specific measures of carer time spent on HRA for self .…”

“…Schoefield et al [28] note that time use studies are often based on small samples, reducing the power of the findings. Folbre (2006) argues that small time use studies may be gender or otherwise biased.…”

Telomeres and stress: Promising avenues for research in psycho-oncology

“…[337] The caregiver's role is complex, balancing the needs of the person they are caring for with competing priorities, such as work[38] and family, often experiencing significant changes in roles. [339] Subsequently, previous pleasurable activities are frequently abandoned, and opportunities for accessing social support may be limited. [40] Compounding this, caring for a person with cancer may continue for years, often with a distressing outcome.…”

Psychology and Family Caregiving

“…7 Given that some studies 4,6 suggest that a large proportion of family caregivers maybe forgoing employment in order to provide full-time in-home family care and little is known about if and when such caregivers return to work, there is also a need for further research specifically examining the impact of caregiving on work.…”

“…5 The increasing participation of women in the workforce over the past 5 decades will undoubtedly impact on the supply of family caregivers and the work and career development of women, since available research suggests that the majority of caregivers are women-mostly daughters caring for parents who are not in paid employment-most likely because of their caregiving. 6 Further research is needed to identify the circumstances under which caregivers undertake caregiving (i.e. how families decide who will undertake family caregiving and for how long?)…”