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The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
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The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
Maryam Navaie-Waliser, DrPH, Aubrey Spriggs, MA, Christine Bonnell, MA, and Timothy Peng, PhD. Center for Home Care Policy and Research, Visiting Nurse Service of New York, 5 Penn Plaza, 11th Floor, New York, NY 10001, 212-290-3540, mnavaie@vnsny.org
Objective. This study examined the type, degree, and effects of informal and formal home health caregivers' interactions on care provision. Methods. Data were collected prospectively by in-person and telephone interviews with 121 informal and 186 formal caregivers of older adults receiving home care following orthopedic or cardiac surgery. Results. Most care recipients (79%) had a primary family caregiver at entry into care. Family caregivers were primarily women (72%), white (46%) or black (35%), married (56%), employed (49%), and well-educated (67%). Informal caregivers had help from nurses (92%), therapists (79%) or aides (52%), with 81% receiving help from 2 or more formal home health caregivers. Formal caregivers spent most time on physical assessments (45%), plan of care development (16%), wound care (16%), physical therapy (14%), and medication assistance (9%). Informal caregivers spent about 24 hours/week providing assistance with ADLs (28% to 51%), IADLs (16% to 87%), nutrition (54%), polypharmacy (50%), stress management (45%), therapeutic exercises (44%), and medical equipment use (26%). Little interaction occurred between informal and formal caregivers, with nearly 50% having no contact. Between 80% to 90% of informal caregivers received little to no training with caregiving tasks, 38% reported low/moderate levels of confidence in care provision ability, 30% were depressed, 40% had high levels of caregiving strain, and 30% were in poor health. Conclusions. A disconnect between informal and formal caregivers was observed, specifically in communication and care coordination. Formal caregivers need to support and train informal caregivers and involve them in the plan of care development.
Learning Objectives: As a result of this session, participants will be able to
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.