Effects of home-based long-term care services on caregiver health according to age

Abstract

BackgroundCaregiver health is a crucial public health concern due to the increasing number of elderly people with disabilities. Elderly caregivers are more likely to have poorer health and be a care recipient than younger caregivers. The Taiwan government offers home-based long-term care (LTC) services to provide formal care and decrease the burden of caregivers. This study examined the effects of home-based LTC services on caregiver health according to caregiver age.MethodsThis cross-sectional study included a simple random sample of care recipients and their caregivers. The care recipients had used LTC services under the Ten-Year Long-Term Care Project (TLTCP) in Taiwan. Data were collected through self-administered questionnaires from September 2012 to January 2013. The following variables were assessed for caregivers: health, sex, marital status, education level, relationship with care recipient, quality of relationship with care recipient, job, household monthly income, family income spent on caring for the care recipient (%) and caregiving period. Furthermore, the following factors were assessed for care recipients: age, sex, marital status, education level, living alone, number of family members living with the care recipient, quality of relationship with family and dependency level. The health of the caregivers and care recipients was measured using a self-rated question (self-rated health [SRH] was rated as very poor, poor, fair, good and very good).ResultsThe study revealed that home nursing care was significantly associated with the health of caregivers aged 65 years or older; however, caregivers aged less than 65 who had used home nursing care, rehabilitation or respite care had poorer health than those who had not used these services. In addition, the following variables significantly improved the health of caregivers aged 65 years or older: caregiver employment, 20% or less of family income spent on caregiving than 81%–100% and higher care recipient health. The involvement of daughters-in-law, rather than spouses, and care recipient health were positively related to the health of caregivers aged less than 65 years.ConclusionsThe findings suggest that home-based LTC service use benefits the health of elderly caregivers. By contrast, home-based LTC service use may be negatively correlated with the health of the caregivers aged less than 65 years.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1186/s12955-017-0786-6) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Care and functional disabilities in daily activities – ELSI-Brazil

“…In addition, despite the recognized need for some support for the family caregiver 10 , 14 , 16 - 18 , the formal support network is still very restricted. In Europe, care was more prevalent among women aged 50–59, unemployed ones, especially those who do household chores, and religious persons 19 .…”

“…The act of caring is a stressful experience that can affect the physical and mental health of the caregiver 18 , despite their health conditions 12 , 13 , 16 and their moment at the course of life. The relationship of the caregiver with a dependent person reduces their chances of keeping a healthy life, deprives them of social contacts, compromises their physical and psychological well-being 17 , 18 , and also exposes them to long-term care (LTC).…”

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“…For example, a systematic review and meta-analysis of 32 randomized controlled trials showed that psychoeducation was associated with a significant decrease in global morbidities and perceived burden in family carers of people with psychosis ( 42 ). Another cross-sectional study further found in almost 600 participants that home nursing care had a significant and positive impact on self-rated health in caregivers aged 65 years or older ( 43 ). Finally, a study of 39 patients with dementia and their caregivers revealed that there was a positive relationship between institutional respite periods, total sleep time per night, total time in bed per night, and improvements in subjective sleep quality ( 44 ).…”

The pattern of hospital-community-home (HCH) nursing in tracheostomy patients with severe traumatic brain injury: is it feasible?

“…The reported survey [41] has found that the need for continuous nursing of patients with moderate and severe TBI ranked rst, and home visiting is welcomed by all the respondents. But at present, because the family visits are affected by geographic location and human resources, the coverage of home-based nursing care is very limited [42]. In addition, the domestic community nursing service is relatively lacking in China, and the cooperative communication mechanisms between hospital and community are not perfect, and it cannot provide effective home care for patients, the patients' medical care service needs have not been met [43].…”