Caregivers of Older Persons in Jamaica: Characteristics, Burden, and Associated Factors

Abstract

Objective: The objective of this study was to determine and characterize caregiver burden among caregivers of community-dwelling older persons in Jamaica. Method: A nationally representative cross-sectional study was done among persons providing noninstitutional care for a single person (≥60 years). The Zarit Burden Interview (ZBI) and a structured questionnaire were administered to 180 caregivers from four geographic health regions. Results: The ZBI scores ranged from 0 to 56 (median = 15). Independently associated factors were relationship to care recipient and age. Children/grandchildren had higher caregiver burden scores than formally employed caregivers (odds ratio = 2.9: 95% confidence interval: [1.02, 8.34]). Compared with caregivers 35 to 44 years, those aged 45 to 65 were almost 5 times more likely to report higher caregiver burden scores. Conclusion: Caregiver burden as identified by the ZBI was low. Age (45–65 years) and being the child/grandchild of the care recipient were independently associated with greater caregiver burden. Interventions to address caregiver burden must embrace strategies that recognize that these factors.

Caregiver Burden and Compassion Fatigue Among Arab Family Caregivers of Older Relatives

“…Caregiver burden has been defined as the type of stress or strain that caregivers experience resulting from the problems and challenges they face in their interactions with the care recipients (Zarit et al, 1980). A number of studies investigating the process of caring for an older relative have found that family caregivers consistently report high levels of burden (Bainbridge et al, 2009;James et al, 2020;Khalaila & Litwin, 2011;Kim et al, 2012;Lynch et al, 2018).…”

Zarit burden interview among caregivers of community‐dwelling older adults in a caribbean setting (Jamaica): Reliability and factor structure

“…One hundred and eighty caregivers across four geographic health regions completed the ZBI. Details of sampling procedure and sample size selection have been previously published (Holder-Nevins et al, 2018;James et al, 2020).…”

Mapping Long-Term Care in Jamaica: Addressing an Ageing Population

“…Another study that examined caregiver burden among 180 caregivers of community dwelling older persons in Jamaica found that children and grandchildren of care recipients were three times more likely to report caregiver burden than formally employed caregivers [20]. The study noted that caregivers aged 45 to 65 years were 5.5 times more likely to report higher caregiver burden than those 44 years and younger.…”

“…In Jamaica, as in many LMICs, there is no LTC insurance, LTC is gendered (mostly female), mostly informal (from family members and volunteers), and without financial or technical support from the state [5,[17][18][19][20]. Further, women from lower income, often rural communities, who migrate to work as domestics in urban households, contribute to a large group of LTC providers because the supervision and care assistance they provide are technically unpaid; they are not paid for care work per se but for household work not-specific to the target care-recipient [17].…”

“…While there is no census of the size, composition, and characteristics of providers or recipients of unpaid care in Jamaica, studies suggest that unpaid females and older persons perform LTC duties, regardless of household income [17,20].…”