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APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Holly Beard, MPA¹, Stacey Plichta, ScD², and James Alan Neff, PhD, MPH¹. (1) College of Health Sciences, Old Dominion University, 2114C Technology Building, Norfolk, VA 23529-0286, 757-683-6482, hbear001@odu.edu, (2) School of Community Health Professions, Old Dominion University, College of Health Sciences, Norfolk, VA 23529

Stroke survivors depend upon formal and informal caregivers to provide the services they need to function in community settings. However, little work has examined the caregiving mix that survivors employ to meet this need. This study proposes a model for defining the caregiving mix and for examining changes in this mix among stroke survivors over time. Three waves of data of the Health and Retirement/Assets and Health Dynamics Among the Oldest Old study (1998-2002) are used in this study. Participants included in the analysis self-identified as stroke survivors in the 1998 interview (n=477); 55% (264) have follow-up data as well. Approximately half of the sample is female (54.5%), 26.6% are minority and 50% are married. At baseline, approximately 42% had a caregiver for ADLs and/or IADLs. Among these, six distinct patterns of caregiving for assistance with ADLs and IADLs emerged from the data (percentages are presented here from ADLs). These are: spouse only (18.6%), one non-spouse informal caregiver only (13.1%), one formal caregiver only (25.1%), two or more informal caregivers (26.6%), one formal and one or more informal caregivers (7.0%), and one formal caregiver with other secondary informal caregivers (9.5%). This classification appears fairly stable over time. Future work will examine predictors of the caregiving mix over time, the effectiveness of the mix, and the factors that lead to changes in caregiving arrangements. An understanding of the use of caregiving services use among stroke survivors has important policy implications for discharge planning and long-term caregiving support initiatives.

Learning Objectives:

• Identify factors related to the balance and transition of caregiving situations among stroke survivors.
• Differentiate between caregiving situations among stroke survivors.

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Any relevant financial relationships? No