Factors influencing caregivers’ burden among family caregivers and institutionalization of in-home elderly people cared for by family caregivers

Abstract

Objectives The purpose of this study was to determine the factors related to changes in the burden of caregivers who look after the elderly at home, as well as factors related to the institutionalization of the elderly who require care. The types of care services associated with reducing caregivers' burden and continuing in-home care were also studied. Methods The study subjects were adults aged C65 years who used the services of in-home care management centres located in Osaka Prefecture, Japan, and their caregivers. This 2-year longitudinal study began in October 2007, with a total of three surveys undertaken once a year. The survey methods included self-administered questionnaires and the review of clinical records. Results Dementia and its accompanying behavioural disturbances were found to be significantly related to the increased burden of caregivers and the institutionalization of those requiring care. A significantly higher proportion of caregivers with an increasing burden or those who maintained a high level of burden used day care services compared to those in the other groups. Conclusion Preventive intervention against dementia and its accompanying behavioural disturbances should be considered in the day care service to reduce caregivers' burden and to decrease institutionalization.

Exploring the challenges of medical/nursing tasks in home care experienced by caregivers of older adults with dementia: An integrative review

“…Helping older adults with dementia to reside in their homes may encourage the usage of services to help reduce caregiver burden, focusing more on caregiver support for managing difficult tasks and behavioural changes rather than the disease itself. Research implies that it is likely the worsening of dementia symptoms that increases the use of institutional care and not necessarily the prolonged length of care provided (Kurasawa et al, ).…”

The “Costs” of informal care: an analysis of the impact of elderly care on caregivers’ subjective well-being in Japan

“…The fact that caring for elderly parents is found to have a negative effect on the subjective well-being of unmarried caregivers sheds light on the important role that formal care services could play in reducing the burden on caregivers, particularly unmarried caregivers who presumably receive less support, both emotional and physical support, from family members. Reducing the burden of informal elderly care on caregivers should be a critical agenda for the government as the increased burden on caregivers is likely to lead to the more costly institutionalization of care recipients (Kurasawa et al, 2012). Moreover, given that unmarried caregivers are more likely to play a greater number of roles than married caregivers, especially if they have children, more support to facilitate informal care should be provided, for example, through such initiatives as flexible working arrangements, paid and unpaid leave, and respite care.…”

How is an informal caregiver’s psychological distress associated with prolonged caregiving? Evidence from a six-wave panel survey in Japan

“…Studies have shown that spousal caregivers tend to report lower levels of psychological well-being compared to other family caregivers [15,16], and that, in Japan, the kin relationship with a recipient confounds the association between caregiving and a caregiver's mental health [18,26]. We constructed four binary variables to which we allocated a ''1'' if the respondent cared for each of the four types of family members: spouse, parent(s), parent(s)-inlaw, and others and a ''0'' otherwise.…”

“…An increasing number of studies have been examining longitudinal changes in the mental health of Japanese caregivers. However, most of them have used community or small convenience samples and/or only two or three waves [25][26][27], making any generalization or cross-country comparison difficult.…”