ADAPTATION IN FAMILY CAREGIVING TO THE PROVISION OF INCONTINENT CARE.
Contributors: University of Florida.
Published: 1992
Number of pages: 170
Subjects: Health Sciences, Nursing.; Sociology, Individual and Family Studies.
Description: With the United States population increasing in persons over 65 years, the provision of care for impaired elderly people remains a concern for policy makers. The majority of impaired elders reside in the community and are cared for by family members. Stress and burden are consequences of family caregiving for many primary care providers, and particularly for those who provide care for elders who are incontinent. Other investigators have reported that once incontinence occurs in an elder who is impaired, many families can no longer adapt to the demands of caregiving.

The 1982 National Long-Term Care Survey and the Informal Caregiver Survey were sources of data for a sample of 1,052 elders and primary caregivers. The double ABCX model of family stress was the framework used to examine differences in adaptation of primary family caregivers who provided care for varying levels of incontinence in elders. Characteristics of the caregiver context were examined to determine the heterogeneity of predictors of stress and burden across levels of incontinent care.

Four variables representing the major constructs of the theoretical model were operationalized. Data indicated differences between groups of caregivers for hours of care, paid helpers, burden, and stress. While controlling for characteristics of the caregiver context, the level of incontinent care provided by the primary caregiver was a predictor of burden, but was not a predictor of stress.

Six models, analyzed by stepwise regression, yielded different combinations of variables which were predictors of stress or burden by level of incontinent care. The variables which were included in the two models for stress in caregivers providing minimum and/or maximum incontinent care were coresidence of caregiver and elder, increased age of the elder, and the use of paid helpers. The variables included in the two models for burden were gender of the primary caregiver, poor self-perceived health of the caregiver, coresidence of the caregiver and elder, increased help with instrumental activities of daily living, caregiver employment adversely affected, inability of the elder to reciprocate tasks, increased hours of care, and other informal caregivers.
Notes: Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 54-01, Section: B, page: 0166.

Thesis (PH.D.)--UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA, 1992.

School code: 0070.