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Family caregiving today: what we have learned from 35 years of research and where do we go from here?
- Author:
- ZARIT Steven H.
- Journal article citation:
- Generations Review, 17(1), January 2007, Online only
- Publisher:
- British Society of Gerontology
The author draws on research to discuss: the social context of caregiving; the stress process in caregiving; and promising strategies for intervention research.
Assessment of the efficacy of a stress management program for informal caregivers of dependent older adults
- Authors:
- LOPEZ Javier, CRESPO Maria, ZARIT Steven H.
- Journal article citation:
- Gerontologist, 47(2), April 2007, pp.205-214.
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
The majority of dependent older adults receive care at home from a family member. Caregiving places enormous demands on these caregivers and the negative consequences associated with caregiving are well documented. This Spanish study compared the effectiveness of two active interventions to a waiting-list control condition to improve emotional well-being in family caregivers. The study randomized distressed caregivers (N = 91) of physically impaired older adults to one of three conditions: traditional weekly sessions, minimal-therapist-contact sessions, or a waiting-list control group. These manual-guided interventions took place over a 2-month period. Caregivers in the traditional weekly sessions experienced the highest reduction in depressive and anxious symptoms. Compared with control participants, caregivers in the traditional weekly sessions had lower post treatment levels of depression and anxiety. They had also lower levels of depression than did caregivers in the minimal-therapist-contact intervention. These data suggest that traditional weekly sessions may be effective in reducing caregiver anxiety and depression. They further suggest that traditional weekly sessions are better than no intervention, and they are also better than a minimal-therapist-contact intervention.
Formal and informal support: the great divide
- Authors:
- LYONS Karen S., ZARIT Steven H.
- Journal article citation:
- International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 14(3), March 1999, pp.183-196.
- Publisher:
- Wiley
As we approach the next century, it is clear that neither formal services nor informal family caregivers can meet the needs of a growing population. It is therefore pertinent to reconceptualize the linkages between formal and informal care and move towards an integrative model. This article explores several models of such an interface that exist in the literature and proposes that many of these overlap. Various predictors of formal service use are also explored, with an emphasis on the outcomes of both the informal care giver and the care recipient. Implications for future research include further exploring and understanding the link between formal and informal support and the need to increase recipient of formal care among family caregivers.
Wives and daughters: the differential role of day care use in the nursing home placement of cognitively impaired family members
- Authors:
- CHO Soyeon, ZARIT Steven H., CHIRIBOGA David A.
- Journal article citation:
- Gerontologist, 49(1), February 2009, pp.57-67.
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
To expand knowledge concerning the significance of kin relationships in caregiving, this study assessed predictors of the timing of institutionalization for persons with dementia. The focus was on whether use of adult day care by wives and daughters holds the same implications for placement. Guided by a caregiving stress process model, primary objective and subjective stressors, secondary stressors, caregiver well-being, and use of day care services were included as predictors. Cox proportional hazards models were tested using a sample of 371 community-dwelling caregivers in the USA, including 141 wives and 230 daughters and daughters-in-law. The main effect of kinship was found to be significant before interactions were introduced. Adult day care use at Time 1, role captivity, role overload, and social impact were subsequently found to interact with kinship. Analyses indicated that wives who used adult day care placed their husbands to a nursing home earlier than their counterparts. Among daughters, however, those who used adult day care were more likely to postpone the placement. The influence of role overload was also stronger in wives than in daughters in predicting the timing of placement. A similar pattern was observed in the interaction between social impact and kinship. Implications: The results demonstrate that factors influencing nursing home placement may vary according to the caregiver's familial relationship to the relative. Different approaches may be needed when targeting wife vs. daughter caregivers, especially when designing adult day care programs.
The effectiveness of adult day services for disabled older people
- Authors:
- GAUGLER Joseph E., ZARIT Steven H.
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Aging and Social Policy, 12(2), 2001, pp.23-47.
- Publisher:
- Routledge
- Place of publication:
- Philadelphia, USA
Adult day care has attracted a considerable amount of attention among researchers, practitioners, and policy makers in the US. Reviews research that determines the effectiveness of adult day services in improving clients' functioning, alleviating care giver stress, and delaying nursing home placement. The strengths and limitations of the research are considered. Concludes with a discussion of policy-relevant issues that must be addressed when determining the effectiveness of adult day services.
Useful services for families: research findings and directions
- Authors:
- ZARIT Steven H., GAUGLER Joseph E., JARROTT Shannon E.
- Journal article citation:
- International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 14(3), March 1999, pp.165-181.
- Publisher:
- Wiley
A major principle of gerontological practice and policy has been that community-based services relieve stress on family caregivers and delay or prevent institutionalisation of frail elders. Examines the benefits of community-based services from four perspectives: relief for family care-givers; benefits to older clients; delay or prevention of institutionalisation; and cost-effectiveness or cost-benefits of a service. Results found the studies in which clients and/or their families received adequate amounts of help showed more consistently positive outcomes. There is little evidence, however, to suggest that community services delay placement.