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The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
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The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
Shu-Pi C. Chen, DrPH, RN, School of Nursing, St. Xavier University, 3700 W. 103th St., Chicago, IL 60655, 773-298-3731, schen@uic.edu, Edwin H. Chen, PhD, School of Public Health, University of Illinois at Chicago, 1603 W. Taylor St., Chicago, IL 60612, Sheila Ryan-Henry, MSW, Seguin Retarded Citizens Association, 6223 W. Ogden Blvd, Berwyn, IL 60402, and Tamar Heller, PhD, Disability and Human Development, University of Illinois at Chicago, 1640 W. Roosevelt Road, Chicago, IL 60608.
Many mothers of adults with intellectual disabilities assume the caregiver role for several decades. Applying the stress and coping theory, the Health Effects Model (HEM) was developed to explain the effects of mothers' caregiving on their health. The HEM was tested using the structural equation modeling technique. Data from 108 mothers of adults with intellectual disabilities who participated in a cross sectional survey in 1998 were collected. Health was measured by the MOS SF-36 and all instruments used had acceptable validity and reliability. The result showed that the data fit HEM moderately well. Ten of the 13 hypotheses were supported. Five factors negatively predicted the physical component of health (PCS), namely the mother's age group, number of health problems, caregiving burden, caregiving satisfaction, and mental component of health. The model explained 34% of the variance of PCS. Although definitive conclusion can not be drawn due to small sample size, the HEM seemed to reveal meaningful connections between the caregiving and its effects. The caregiving and its effects on mothers' health may have policy implications for women's health. Further study is suggested.
Learning Objectives:
Keywords: Women's Health, Caregivers
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
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.