Use of Caregiving Support Services Among Diverse Dementia Caregivers by Geographic Context

Abstract

Background and Objectives Little is known about how race/ethnicity and geographic context relate to support service use among dementia caregivers. Our objectives were to investigate 1) whether the use of at least one formal caregiving service - support groups, respite care, and training - differed by race/ethnicity and across metro and non-metro areas; and 2) whether predisposing, enabling, and need characteristics influenced support service use by race/ethnicity. Research Design and Methods Data were analyzed from a sample of primary caregivers of care recipients aged 65 years or older with probable dementia (n=482) in the 2017 National Health and Aging Trends Study and National Study of Caregiving. We calculated weighted prevalence estimates then used the Hosmer-Lemeshow goodness of fit statistic to find the best-fitting logistic regression models. Results Among minority dementia caregivers, support service use was higher in metro than non-metro areas (35% and 15%); the trend was reversed for non-Hispanic White caregivers (47% non-metro and 29% metro). The best-fitting regression models included predisposing, enabling, and need factors for both minority and non-Hispanic White caregivers. Younger age and more disagreement within the family were consistently associated with more service use in both groups. Among minority caregivers, better caregiver and care recipient health were associated with using support services. Among non-Hispanic White caregivers, non-metro geographic context and caregiving interfering with valued activities were associated with using support services. Discussion and Implications Geographic context differently impacted support service use and the influence of predisposing, enabling, and need factors varied by race/ethnicity.

Factors Influencing Caregivers’ Use of Respite Care Services: Secondary Analysis of the National Study of Caregiving

“…However, little is known about when and why caregivers use (or do not use) respite services. Previous studies have examined correlates of respite service use among caregivers combined with other types of formal services such as support groups, rather than focusing specifically and exclusively on respite care (Feldman et al, 2020;Yoshikawa et al, 2023). Even less is known about how the conditions under which caregivers use respite services may vary across social identities (e.g., sex and race).…”