Healh-related consequences of caregiving identified by informal caregivers of persons with a spinal cord injury

Spinal cord injury (SCI) caregiving is a labor-intensive, physically-demanding, and long-term undertaking that, over time, can result in chronic stress and other health-related consequences for the caregiver. Data for this presentation comes from an ongoing three-year study of the work environments of informal and formal SCI caregivers. The study, funded by the National Institute on Disability Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR) employs a mixed-method(qualitative/quantitative) approach to data collection, data processing, and data analysis. This presentation focuses on informal caregivers only. The objective of the presentation is to examine in some depth the health-related consequences of caregiving identified by 39 family members, friends, and acquaintances who completed study requirements to date. Qualitative data comes from in-depth, audiotaped, interviews with study participants. Study participants also completed survey instruments measuring caregiver burden (CBS), perceived stress (PSS), satisfaction with life (SWLS) and health functioning (SFv12. Statistical analysis of survey data revealed moderately strong negative relationships between perceived stress and satisfaction with life (-0.718041) and perceived stress and health functioning (-0.552478). There were also moderately strong positive relationships between caregiver burden and perceived stress (0.5860577)and between satisfaction with life and health functioning (0.6199978). Preliminary content analysis of the coded interview transcripts produced a wide range of stressors associated with caregiving and a wide range of physical complaints and emotional concerns. This presentation triangulates quantitative data (demographics and survey scores) with narrative material to provides a more systematic, coherent analysis of the linkages between the caregiver demands health-related consequences.