Coping With Informal Assistance

In the U.S, one in four will be aged 60 years and older by 2050 (U.S. Census Bureau). This represents an overwhelming number of people who will either be in the caretaker role or be the ROC. Like today, most of the care will be provided by informal unpaid caregivers. The number of informal unpaid caregivers is expected to rise from 20 million in 2000 to 37 million in 2050 (Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation [ASPE], 2003). Because of the burden of care giving, many caregivers will experience depression, poor health and quality of life (Etters, Goodall, & Harrison, 2008). Their well-being is an important public health concern.

The Deaf community contains the basic characteristics of any particular ethnic group, despite the attempts from hearing people to destroy their culture through medical interventions. This community contains members who share a feeling of community. They value recognition by others and self-recognition (Lane). They feel strongly identified in their group, as they create a family environment, which provides support for each of its members. Moreover, the Deaf community has a set of norms for behavior. In decision-making processes, they try to agree on the course of action to take through consensus and not just by individual initiatives. Allegiance to their culture is also another distinct value that characterizes the members of this community. People with hearing impairments have the “highest rate of endogamous marriages of any

In the U.S., there is an essential population of informal caregivers that devote a significant amount of time and resources to caring for older adults with impairments. However, due to the informal nature of these caregiver relationships, there is a lack of knowledge and understanding of this population. In “A National Profile of Family and Unpaid Caregivers Who Assist Older Adults with Health Care Activities (2016)”, Wolff and colleagues highlight the importance of understanding the responsibilities of caregivers and how this may affect their own health, as well as the need to identify the basic characteristics of informal caregivers. Therefore, the primary objective of this study by Wolff and colleagues (2016) was to characterize the common responsibilities of caregivers, their utilization of supportive services, as well as to identify the effects of caregiver-related responsibilities on their health. Ultimately, this information may inform future public health services and health care systems to provide much needed support and resources to these caregivers.

The demands for informal care are also increasing due to the growth of the oldest old with chronic illnesses, more women finding jobs outside of the home, more complex families that include older relatives living with their adult children, and racial and class inequities. These households may not be able to afford total long-term care and then have to rely on informal caregivers. However, these families then lack the knowledge they need and are unprepared when they are providing informal care. They are not informed on the aging process or any sources available to their older

Providing eldercare to sick and aging loved ones increases women’s risk of living in poverty later in life, and specifically at retirement age due to the negative health and financial implications including gaps or decreases in employment, losses in retirement income, and the use of savings to cover out-of-pocket costs (Wakabayashi, Donato, 2006). The elderly population in the United States continues to grow at a significant rate, with estimates that approximately 80 million adults will be over the age of sixty-five by the year 2030 (Bookman, Kimbrel, 2011). Approximately seventy-five percent of elderly persons who require assistance with activities of daily living and instrumental activities of daily living receive that support in the form

This research paper focuses on the separations of common hearing loss issues within the hard of hearing community, elucidating three groups that are considered the major division that identify within the Hard of hearing community, appropriately. There are a few distinguishing common, yet complex challenges, and universal problems of living within their culture. Based on the qualities of psychosocial perspectives of hearing loss, there are distinctive views of socialism, activities and everyday life that affects his or her lifestyle. Partially, the sense of hearing could be considered a major predicament during a later age of hearing loss, and could create a miscommunication that can cause changes to jobs, relationships and life. Even though people can jump from one view to another contingently based on experiences they have encountered, usually there are three perceptions based on the implicit connotations of their situations.

During the stages Alzheimer’s in which the resident is in need of care, but that care is not too complex, it is most common to turn to an informal caregiver. According to the 2016 Alzheimer’s Disease Facts and Figures (2016), “In 2015, caregivers of people with Alzheimer’s and other dementias provided an estimated 18.1 billion hours of informal (that is, unpaid) assistance, a contribution to the nation valued at $221.3 billion” (p. 32). Informal caregivers are mainly daughters and spouses of the residents. Females make up the majority of family member caretakers, but it is becoming more common for men to take on this role (Brodaty & Donkin, 2009). Roughly a third of the caretakers in the United States are over the age of sixty-five and the majority are married or are in long term relationships. It has also been found that around 23% of caretakers for residents with dementia also have their own children under age eighteen (Alzheimer’s Association, 2016). This can increase the level of stress that the caregiver faces, as he or she is being stretched in different directions.

A nonsystematic study reviewed previous research and noted the importance of assisting caregivers as there are nearly four million adult caregivers nationwide.7 Researchers from the School of Nursing in Michigan gave insight about the issues faced by caregivers, and how to better meet their caregiving needs. Legislation review and five meta-analyses were conducted in order to see the many implications caregivers face as well offer ways to help them. National data showed these caregivers estimate an average of 8.3 hours a day providing care near 13.7 months. 5 Along with innumerable physical changes, sleep disturbances, and changes financial well-being, psychological impairment and moods disturbance were a great topic of research. In several

Nevertheless, by 2050, there will be a dearth of formal and informal elder caregivers to administer assistance to the projected 88.5 million Americans age 65 and older who will require eldercare (Vincent & Velkoff 2010). In 2010, the “family caregiver support ratio” was seven potential caregivers for every person age 80 and older, who were in the high-risk care years (Vincent & Velkoff, 2010). Concurrently, it was the year the caregiver support ratio peaked and began an abrupt downturn, which will significantly impact demand for long-term eldercare support for older adults for decades to come (Redfoot, Feinberg, & Houser, 2013). Therefore, the pool of the family caregivers support ratio will begin to rapidly decline to 4 to 1 by 2030,

It has two steps. First step is gathering participants’ basic information, including age, gender, relationship with patients, education level and employment status, and next one is capturing caregivers’ experiences by using CRA, which is developed by Given et al. (1992), to evaluate association between their reactions and socio-demograhic and geographical variables. The results reflects that even though family caregivers are seriously affected in their daily living and finance issues, both in urban and rural caregivers show high satisfaction for caring dementia relatives. Rural caregivers are more likely to bear a heavy burden on finance, but they get more support from family members than urban caregivers. However, what out of authors’ anticipation is that the majority of the participants in the rural areas were female spouses rather than location or place of residence, which probably makes this question like a gender issue than a geographical issue. The results suggest that the differences between urban and rural caregivers’ reactions come from the different traditions and values, instead of education level and geographical setting. In this situation, person-centered care like nursing interventions should be developed to support family caregivers. In the end of this study, authors suggest the meaning of care and how it differs from family should be studied in

An increase in awareness of the needs of an aging population was authorize by the legislation and the act; section 371 was amended from its original declaration in 1965 (AOA.gov). The act granted assistance to caregivers (those who care for aging individuals, identified as 70 years of age or older) through funding that would support aged love ones and help them to remain in their homes as long as possible (AOA.gov). Through research, the National Family Caregiver Support Program (NFCSP) suggests caregiver’s experience a physical, emotional and financial toll while caring for the elderly.

Many Americans prepare for adulthood by pursuing careers, building families and investing in homes. However, very few of us really think of old age and how it will impact our families. As stated by Greg Link in his journal, “The Administration for Community Living: Programs and Initiatives Providing Family Caregiver Support”, “for many older people, the ability to remain living at home in the community is often contingent upon consistent support provided by a family caregiver” (Link, 2015, p. 57). In essence, the authors point is that in order for older adults to live with dignity and age in place in their homes they require assistance from another individual. Furthermore, care takers play an imperative role in the lives of aging adults.

The burden experienced by the caregiver is also associated with demographical factors, framed by characteristics of the family and the patient, and this kind of information should be taken into accounts – age, race, gender, social relations and so on (Sanders, 2008). It appears a strong association between the recurrent hospitalization and family characteristics. Furthermore, the caregiver resilience is an important factor regarding intervention strategies (see Yeh & Bull, 2011).

The quality of care is often affected by social support systems since this system plays an integral part in each of our lives. It is vital to have social support because it encourages a healthy response from the person. A social support system promotes health to an individual by providing rewarding roles socially, a better way to deal with events which are stressful, and a positive experience. It is essential in a person’s life, whether elderly or in youth, to have a system providing for physical, emotional, psychological, and social needs. Social support can promote health by providing individuals with positive experiences, socially rewarding roles, or improved abilities to cope with stressful events. The system may often consist of friends, coworkers, and other individuals such as social workers and providers. Lastly, family is a vital part of one's social support system by providing an environment of trustworthiness where an individual can be themselves and share his or her opinions, concerns, fears and point of views while

The ability to support the older people keep up social ties with the use of technical devices such as telephone is vital, and there is indication that older people may benefit from the use of internet as a befriending opportunity (Skingley, 2013). According to Age UK (2009), there is no evidence to effectiveness of services aimed at reducing loneliness and social isolation among older people, but concludes that there is a need to focus on befriending services for older people, in particular the effectiveness of such services in terms of their impact on older people’s quality of life and their overall preventive value.