Newswise, August 10, 2016--As more people in the United States
age with chronic disease, needs for caregiving increase. Whether the source of
caregiving for disabled older adults is changing is unknown.
In a study appearing in
the July 12 issue of JAMA, Claire K. Ankuda, M.D., M.P.H., and
Deborah A. Levine, M.D., M.P.H., of the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor,
examined trends in caregiving for home-dwelling older adults with functional
disability
This study used data from the nationally representative U.S.
Health and Retirement Study, and included home-dwelling adults 55 years and
older with 1 or more impairments in activities of daily living or instrumental
activities of daily living (ADL/IADLs) who were surveyed between 1998 and 2012.
There were 5,198 individuals and 39,060 observations of
home-dwelling older adults with 1 or more impairments.
The researchers found that individuals increasingly reported
caregiver help, from 42 percent in 1998 to 50 percent in 2012. Assistance was
increasingly provided by spouses, children, other family, and paid caregivers
over each 2-year period.
The greatest increase in caregiving was among those with fewer
ADL and IADL impairments.
“Although this is likely in part because those with more
impairments have already sought caregivers, it may also be that more adults
with 1 or 2 impairments are aging in their communities as opposed to nursing
homes,” the authors write.
“Further work is needed to assess the balance between functional
needs in the population and capacity for caregiver support, as well as the
burden on unpaid caregivers.”
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