DOI: 10.3886/icpsr36349
title: Black Rural and Urban Caregivers Mental Health/Functioning, Missouri, 1999-2002
title: Archival Version

description: The Black Rural and Urban Caregivers Mental Health/Functioning data collection includes survey data collected in 2000-2002 from African American females age 65 and older, who provide unpaid care for older African American adults in the St. Louis Metropolitan area and seven rural Missouri counties (Butler, Dunklin, Mississippi, New Madrid, Pemiscot, Scott, and Stoddard).
Because of inadequate recruitment knowledge about rural African American caregivers and persistent reports of challenges when involving African Americans elders in research, this study focused on the involvement of African American rural elders and recruitment of their female informal caregivers in a study of caregivers' well-being and service use. African Americans comprise the largest group of ethnic and racial minority elders aged 65 and older in the U.S. population thus making up one half of all ethnic and racial minority elders. Numerical changes in population size and increasing longevity of older African Americans direct attention to African American informal female caregivers- persons most likely to assist African American elderly with daily living tasks, personal needs, and long-term care. More disabled and chronically ill African American elders portend continuing need from informal or unpaid caregivers for dependent care.
There are two datasets associated with this study, a public-use (da36349-0001) and restricted-use (da36349-0002) version of the same survey data. Both data files contain 521 cases and 1438 variables. However, the restricted file contains continuous as opposed to categorical values for age variables rounded to the nearest whole number.
description: African American female informal caregivers are a critical link in the chain of informal care received by older African Americans. Because little research has been conducted to date to guide research focusing on informal caregivers of rural, older African Americans, the challenge for researchers is how to involve rural, older African Americans and recruit adequate samples of their female informal caregivers in research. It is in this regard that this study contributes in a unique way to building knowledge for research about ethnic and racial minority recruitment.
description: Data came from a cross-sectional study of 521 Midwestern African American female primary caregivers of older African Americans (ages 65 and older).
Although telephone screening was the preferred mode for involving rural, older African Americans, canvass screening was employed between March and October 2001 to identify a sufficient number of elders and find and recruit caregivers when there was no telephone match with an address for elders.
To facilitate building a link with local rural African American communities, study staff recruited, trained, and hired eight local African American women to conduct computerized in-home interviews with caregivers.
description: Variables include primary caregiver characteristics, secondary caregiver characteristics, care recipient characteristics, familial relationship variables, mental health service needs, health behavior, informal support and formal service use, life satisfaction, feelings on caregiving, and interviewer observations. Demographic variables include age, religion, marital status, employment status, and income.
description: Response Rates: Interviews with 521 primary care-givers (256 urban, 265 rural) were completed, representing an 88% overall response rate (84% urban, 93% rural) among contacted eligible caregivers.
description: To obtain information from representative samples of urban and rural older African American adults used to recruit caregivers, investigators adapted Picot's reverse sampling methodology. Medicare files formed the sampling frame, as in the National Long-Term Care and Informal Caregiver Surveys.
Investigators acquired lists of names, addresses, birth dates, and genders of African American Medicare enrollees aged 65 and above residing in seven historically rural Southeast Missouri counties and Metropolitan St. Louis. Rural counties met U.S. Census Criteria for a nonstandard metropolitan statistical area (population size ranging from 2,500 to 20,000 and non-adjacent to a metropolitan area); metropolitan St. Louis met U.S. Census criteria for a standard metropolitan statistical area. Sampling consultants from the University of Michigan Survey Research Center selected a stratified urban random sample (n=9,419) from Metropolitan St. Louis enrollees based on zip code, age, and gender. All rural Medicare enrollees (n=1,804) and sampled urban enrollees were sent letters explaining the study before any contact attempts. Subsequent telephone or in-person contacts with enrollees were designed to determine those meeting the study's eligibility criteria and to have eligible older persons identify their primary caregivers.
description: Datasets: 
DS0: Study-Level Files
DS1: Public-Use File
DS2: Restricted-Use File
description: Adult African American females that provided at least 5 hours per week of unpaid help with daily activities of older African Americans (age 65+) in Missouri who are Medicare enrollees. Smallest Geographic Unit: None
description: computer-assisted personal interview (CAPI)A restricted version of this collection is available. Users interested in obtaining these data must complete a Restricted Data Use Agreement, specify the reasons for the request, and obtain IRB approval or notice of exemption for their research.