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Older parents who care for children with serious mental illness
- Author:
- KAUFMAN Allan V.
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Gerontological Social Work, 29(4), 1998, pp.35-55.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
- Place of publication:
- Philadelphia, USA
This paper discusses the results of an exploratory study of a sample of older parents who lived with and provided care to adult children with serious mental illness in the USA. A majority of the parents reported high levels of social support from relatives and friends, and appeared to be coping adequately with the stress associated with their care giving activities. Most of the parents had made no concrete plans or arrangements for the future care of their seriously mentally ill children.
Social support, caregiver burden, and life satisfaction in a sample of rural African American and White caregivers of older persons with dementia
- Authors:
- KAUFMAN Allan V., et al
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Gerontological Social Work, 53(3), April 2010, pp.251-269.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
- Place of publication:
- Philadelphia, USA
This paper details a study of 141 African American and Caucasian carers of older family members or friends with dementia in rural Alabama and looked at the relationship between the participants’ receipt of informal, social support and their levels of caregiver burden and life satisfaction. The authors distinguish between formal, social support, as that given by paid helpers (e.g. care workers) or volunteers formally associated with social or health services agencies, and informal support, as that given by family members or out of friendship, due to affection or feelings of personal obligation. Support can constitute concrete help with personal or household tasks, as well as ‘softer’ support, such as companionship for example. The four measures of support used were as detailed on the Interpersonal Support Evaluation List and were defined in the data as ‘tangible’, ‘belonging’, ‘appraisal’ and ‘self-esteem’. High levels of social support were reported with no apparent significant difference in levels of social support attributed to cultural identity. Female carers reported higher mean scores for 3 out of 4 measures of social support than male carers. Two of the 4 dimensions of social support, specifically the availability of people to talk and socialise with and the receipt of feelings of positive regard and self-esteem from others, were predictors of carers’ satisfaction with their quality and standard of living.