Optimal Use of Formal and Informal Systems over the Life Course

Does Gender Moderate Factors Associated With Whether Spouses Are the Sole Providers of IADL Care to Their Partners?

“…The TSM also recognizes that social characteristics may influence the fit between the structures of caregiving tasks and of potential helpers (Litwak et al 1994). These characteristics include gender, which could affect the fit between caregiving tasks and human resources because of skills differences for husbands and wives stemming from earlier institutional and interpersonal life course experiences.…”

“…This orientation suggests that solo spousal caregiving may be more likely among elderly White than Black Americans. Greater marital longevity may increase commitment to providing care to one’s spouse (Litwak et al 1994), lessen the perceived burden of providing such care (Stoller and Miklowski 2008), and shape patterns of caregiving reciprocity and obligations (Fine and Glendinning 2005). These observations suggest that as couples age and their marriages endure, sole reliance on the spouse for care may also increase.…”

“…This research is premised on assumptions that these characteristics might reflect predispositions to use social services (Scharlach et al 2008), beliefs of elderly couples and potential helpers about who are appropriate caregivers (Soldo, Wolf, and Agree 1990), and the fit between structural aspects of caregiving tasks and potential caregivers (Litwak et al 1994). Findings from two studies testing whether married Black Americans are less likely than White Americans to have solo spousal caregivers were inconsistent (Feld et al 2004; Stoller and Cutler 1992).…”

“…Despite theoretical reasons suggesting that as couples age and their marriages endure, sole reliance on the spouse for care may also increase (Fine and Glendinning 2005; Litwak et al 1994), the only located study testing this idea did not find support for it (Feld et al 2006). Nevertheless, there are suggestions that gender could be a critical context for the impact of age and marital duration on the spouse’s caregiving role.…”

Medication Administration Hassles Reported by Family Caregivers of Dependent Elderly Persons

“…Litwak's Model of Complementary Care (19) and other similar works describing the separate and shared functions of formal and informal providers of care to dependent elderly persons clearly articulate the need for mutual respect and shared decision making. If, as current public policy suggests, shared long-term care responsibility will continue to flourish in the future, there must be higher expectations and accountability on the part of the formal network to prepare family caregivers to assume complex care responsibility such as medication administration.…”