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The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
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The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
Aubrey Spriggs, MA and Maryam Navaie-Waliser, DrPH. Center for Home Care Policy and Research, Visiting Nurse Service of New York, 5 Penn Plaza, 11th Floor, New York, NY 10001, 212-290-4882, aspriggs@vnsny.org
Introduction: This study compared care recipients' and primary informal caregivers' perceptions of informal and formal care provision in a home health setting. Methods: Home and telephone interviews were conducted with 121 home health recipients and their primary informal caregivers to gather data on sociodemographic and relational characteristics, perceptions of informal and formal care provision, including type, frequency, and intensity of care. Results: The majority of home health recipients and primary informal caregivers were women, racial/ethnic minorities and married. Average age for home health recipients was 69 years (SD=7) and 57 years (SD=15) for informal caregivers. Most home health recipients lived either with their informal caregivers (43%) or alone (34%). Spouses (37%) and sons/daughters (32%) were most often identified as primary informal caregivers. Although little disagreement was found in perceptions of formal care provision between home health recipients and primary informal caregivers, there was significant disagreement in informal care provision (14% to 47%). Compared to home health recipients, informal caregivers were more likely to report providing a broader array and intensity of care. The greatest levels of discord between the two groups was evident in the provision of psychosocial care including stress management (47%), illness fact gathering (38%), and giving advice (30%); health behavior management including nutrition (46%), exercise (39%), and self-care (30%); and ADLs/IADLs including ambulation (38%) and financial management (32%). Conclusions: The effects of caregiving perception disparities have the potential to impact caregiver/care recipient relations, burden and health outcomes. Moreover, it points to important methodological considerations in data collection.
Learning Objectives:
Keywords: Caregivers, Home Care
Related Web page: www.vnsny.org/research
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: Visiting Nurse Service of New York
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.