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Balancing care demands and personal needs: a typology on the reconciliation of informal dementia care with personal life based on narrative interviews
- Authors:
- GOTTSCHALK Sophie, et al
- Journal article citation:
- Dementia: the International Journal of Social Research and Practice, 20(8), 2021, pp.2689-2707.
- Publisher:
- Sage
Finding a balance between care and personal needs is often challenging for individuals caring for a person with dementia. The present study aimed to understand how primary and secondary family carers of people with dementia perceive the reconciliation of informal care and their personal life throughout the course of care. Narrative interviews with 14 carers (n=10 female, mean age: 48.79) from (Edited publisher abstract)
Predictors of the personal benefits and positive aspects of informal caregiving
- Authors:
- PENDERGRASS Anna, et al
- Journal article citation:
- Aging and Mental Health, 23(11), 2019, pp.1533-1538.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
Objective: The research investigates a) the number of reported benefits in an informal caregiving situation and b) the factors that predict the caregiver’s (CG’s) experience of benefits. Method: In this cross-sectional study, the research computed univariate analyses and a multiple regression analysis using a benefit score as the dependent variable. Participants were 734 informal CGs who provide care for a person with chronic care needs in Germany. The research examined the CG’s self-reported physical complaints (GBB-24), subjective burden (CSI), depressive symptoms (PHQ-9), quality of life (CarerQoL), and benefits (BIZA-D). Results: Most of the CGs (87.1%) experienced benefits in at least one field. A higher experience of benefits was significantly associated with: more depressive symptoms (r = 0.10), higher burden (r = 0.17), longer duration of care (r = 0.07), longer daily care time (r = 0.21), more physical complaints (r = 0.15), and a good quality of the relationship between CG and CR (η = 0.13). In the multivariate regression analysis, a good relationship between the CG and CR (β = .157, P < .001), an increased amount of care time (β = .188, P < .001), and a higher level of burden (β = .167, P < .001) were associated with greater CG’s benefits. Conclusion: CG benefits are a very important, often experienced, but less-explored construct in caregiving research. Benefits do not seem to be on the opposite end of the same continuum as negative aspects of caregiving. Benefits appear to be a nearly distinct dimension in informal care settings. (Edited publisher abstract)
Young carers in Europe: an exploratory cross-national study in Britain, France, Sweden and Germany
- Editor:
- BECKER Saul
- Publisher:
- Loughborough University. Department of Social Science. Young Carers Research Gro
- Publication year:
- 1995
- Pagination:
- 106p.,bibliogs.
- Place of publication:
- Loughborough
Research report revealing the extent to which young carers have been ignored in Europe and highlighting issues for future policy formulation.
Work-family balance in the second half of life: caregivers' decisions regarding retirement and working time reduction in Europe
- Authors:
- BERTOGG Ariane, NAZIO Tiziana, STRAUSS Susanne
- Journal article citation:
- Social Policy and Administration, 55(3), 2021, pp.485-500.
- Publisher:
- Wiley
This article investigates how different types of informal caregiving – upward, lateral and downward – impact men's and women's decisions to retire or to reduce their working hours, and how welfare policy characteristics moderate the linkage between informal care provision and employment participation. The analyses are based on six waves from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE). This study exploits the data's longitudinal structure by applying fixed‐effects regression models with lagged, time‐varying country characteristics. The results show that, in most cases, upward caregiving to parents is less relevant for deciding to remain in the labour market than lateral care (especially to siblings, friends and neighbours) and downward grandchild care. The welfare context moderates the impact of caregiving on labour market participation, with variation between the different types of care provided. (Edited publisher abstract)
How politico-economic systems shape individuals’ value of elderly care: evidence from the German reunification
- Authors:
- DIEDERICH Freya, KONIG Hans-Helmut, BRETTSCHNEIDER Christian
- Journal article citation:
- Gerontologist, 60(2), 2020, pp.350-358.
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
Perceptions of how societies should care for the elderly people can differ among countries. This study examines to what extent individuals’ value of informal care is shaped by the politico-economic system in which they grew up and if this value adjusts once an individual lives in a different politico-economic system. Research Design and Methods: The study uses data from the German Family Panel and take advantage of the unique setting of the German separation and reunification. Probit models are used to examine the effect of being born in East Germany on individuals’ value of informal care relative to employment at different birth cohorts and survey waves (N = 14,093). Average marginal effects are calculated. Results: Twenty years after reunification, East Germans who spent their adolescence under communism exhibit a higher value of informal care relative to employment than West Germans who grew up in a western social market economy. Differences in values between East and West Germans do not significantly converge over time. Discussion and Implications: Individuals’ value of informal care is deeply shaped by the politico-economic system in which they grew up. If immigration policies are introduced to increase the care for elderly people, differences in individuals’ cultural perceptions of elderly care should be considered as these will not suddenly adjust. (Edited publisher abstract)
Carers@work: interviews with working carers: summary report
- Authors:
- HAMBLIN Kate A., HOFF Andreas
- Publisher:
- University of Oxford. Oxford Institute of Population Ageing
- Publication year:
- 2012
- Pagination:
- 27
- Place of publication:
- Oxford
This is a summary report from Carers@Work, a project that sought to understand the challenges faced by working carers, and how employers can facilitate the reconciliation of work and care commitments. Interviews were conducted both with working carers and employers identified in the literature as exhibiting ‘best practice’ in terms of their policies for carers. The project also aimed to identify (Edited publisher abstract)
A valid instrument for measuring informal care time for people with dementia
- Authors:
- NEUBAUER Simone, et al
- Journal article citation:
- International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 24(3), March 2009, pp.275-282.
- Publisher:
- Wiley
An economic evaluation of dementia-related interventions from a societal perspective should take account of informal caregiving. Within the German IDA study (Dementia Care Initiative in Primary Practice), informal care time for people with dementia living at home is assessed. The evaluation applied a German adaptation of the Resource Utilization in Dementia (RUD) questions on informal care, which distinguishes three categories of informal care activities: Activities of Daily Living (ADL), Instrumental ADL (IADL), and supervision. In contrast to the original version, the time of all informal caregivers who are involved in caring for the patient were included. The questionnaire was completed as a computer-assisted telephone interview at baseline and after 1 year. To test the plausibility of the questionnaire, seven hypotheses about the reported informal care time were included. Nearly all results confirmed the hypotheses. Informal care time as well as changes over time correlated with the physical and mental health status of the patient. Considering the time of other informal caregivers led to slightly higher correlations (not significant). The results indicate that interviewees seem to underestimate particularly the time of supervision of other informal caregivers. In sum, the instrument gives plausible results and is suited for measuring informal care time, as well as changes over time.
Impact of informal caregiving on loneliness and satisfaction with leisure-time activities. Findings of a population-based longitudinal study in Germany
- Authors:
- HAJEK Andre, KONIG Hans-Helmut
- Journal article citation:
- Aging and Mental Health, 23(11), 2019, pp.1539-1545.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
Objectives: Recent longitudinal studies have shown that informal caregiving increases depressive symptoms. However, little is known about the relation between informal caregiving and social ties as well as the evaluation of leisure-time activities longitudinally. Consequently, the aim of the current study was to investigate whether informal caregiving affects social ties as well as the perception of leisure-time activities. Method: Data were drawn from a population-based sample of community-dwelling individuals (≥40 years) in Germany from 2002 to 2014 (n = 21,762 observations). Social ties were assessed twofold: The number of important people in regular contact, and a six-item scale by Gierveld and van Tilburg. Furthermore, using a 5-point rating scale, satisfaction with leisure-time activities were quantified. Individuals were asked whether they provide informal care regularly. Results: Fixed effects regressions revealed that the onset of informal caregiving were not associated with changes in loneliness in the total sample and in both sexes. Besides, the onset of informal caregiving was associated with an increase in the number of individuals in regular contact in the total sample and in men, whereas it was associated with a decrease in satisfaction with leisure-time activities in the total sample and in both sexes. Conclusion: Data suggest that changes in informal caregiving were not associated with changes in loneliness. While the onset of informal caregiving was associated with an increase in the number of individuals in regular contact, it was associated with negative changes in satisfaction with leisure-time activities, emphasizing the variety of consequences that may unfold. (Publisher abstract)
Own and partners’ dyadic coping and depressive symptoms in individuals with early-stage dementia and their caregiving partners
- Authors:
- GELLERT Paul, et al
- Journal article citation:
- Aging and Mental Health, 22(8), 2018, pp.1008-1016.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
Objectives: In patients with early-stage dementia and their caregiving partners, reciprocal dyadic coping (DC) is crucial for preventing or reducing depressive symptoms in both partners. This study examines the relationships between ‘own DC’ and ‘perceived partner DC’ with depressive symptoms in couples coping with dementia on individual (actor effects) and cross-person (partner effects) levels. Method: 164 individuals (82 patients with early-stage dementia and their 82 caregiving partners; ND = 82 dyads) participated in this prospective study with measures (DC, depressive symptoms, and dementia severity) taken at baseline and at six months. Each partner evaluated their own and the perceived partner DC. Actor–partner interdependence models were applied to the resulting four independent evaluations. Results: Results differed substantially between patients and caregivers. DC was significantly related to patients’ but not to caregivers’ depressive symptoms, when adjustments were made for individual coping. Perceived partner DC showed a negative association with depressive symptoms in patients, whereas own DC was adversely related for actor as well as for partner effects across individuals. Conclusion: The adverse association between the own DC of the caregiver and the patient on depressive symptoms of the patient might be due to inappropriate efforts or to the loss of autonomy as a care-receiver. DC is important in both patients and caregivers, as shown by the negative association between perceived partner DC and depressive symptoms in the patients, which might inform interventions that target the couple as a whole. (Publisher abstract)
Supporting family dementia caregivers: testing the efficacy of dementia care management on multifaceted caregivers’ burden
- Authors:
- ZWINGMANN I., et al
- Journal article citation:
- Aging and Mental Health, 22(7), 2018, pp.889-896.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
Objectives: Current research suggests that dementia care management (DCM) can decrease burden and associated health impairments of caregivers. The objective of this secondary analysis is to investigate the impact of DCM on multifaceted caregivers’ burden dimensions by differentiating between objective and subjective burden. Methods: A sample of n = 317 dyads of caregivers and community-dwelling people with dementia (PwD) participated in a general practitioner-based, cluster-randomised intervention trial with two arms and comprehensive data assessment at baseline and 12-month follow-up. Data provided by the caregiver included an inventory with 88 items in 20 different dimensions. Results: Caregivers in the intervention ‘DCM’ group showed decreased caregiver burden, especially in caregivers’ objective burden due to caring (i.e. emotional support), caregivers’ subjective burden due to behaviour change (i.e. cognition, aggression and resistance, depression, late symptoms) and caregivers’ subjective burden due to perceived conflicts between needs and responsibilities to care (i.e. financial losses) compared to caregivers in the control ‘care as usual’ group, which showed significant increased caregiver burden after 12 months. Conclusion: The findings support evidence for the effectiveness of DCM to lower family dementia caregivers' burden in multifaceted dimensions. (Edited publisher abstract)