Do Income Supplemental Programs for Older Adults' Help Reduce Primary Caregiver Burden? Evidence from Mexico

The Impact of Long-Term Care Needs on the Socioeconomic Deprivation of Older People and Their Families: Results from Mixed-Methods Scoping Review

BACKGROUND

Long-term care (LTC), poverty, and socioeconomic deprivation are globally significant social issues. Ongoing population aging trends and the recent social and health emergencies caused by the COVID-19 pandemic crisis have highlighted the need for macro-level LTC and welfare system sustainability strategies.

AIMS

This scoping review (ScR) explores the relationship between LTC needs, the health status of older people, and the risk of socioeconomic deprivation for their households.

METHODS

The methodology considers different relevant sources: (a) the guidelines for ScR proposed by Lockwood et al.; (b) the recommendations of Munn et al.; (c) the PRISMA guideline for scoping reviews; and (d) the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) checklist. Sixty-three papers are included in the mixed-methods analysis.

RESULTS

The findings reveal the existence of a debate that seeks to understand the different characteristics of the relationship between the investigated issues. Relevant gaps in the literature are identified in terms of the concepts and approaches of the studies analyzed.

CONCLUSIONS

The results indicate that the reciprocal relationship between LTC needs, supply, and the risk of socioeconomic deprivation is understudied. Future studies should focus on the causal relationship between the two phenomena and identify any internal factors that may be involved.

Shared Care Networks Assisting Older Adults: New Insights From the National Health and Aging Trends Study

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES

Caregiving research often assumes older adults receiving care have a primary caregiver who provides the bulk of care. Consequently, little is known about the extent to which care responsibilities are shared more evenly within a care network, the characteristics associated with sharing, or the consequences for meeting older adults' care needs.

RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS

We analyze a sample of U.S. older adults receiving care from the 2011 National Health and Aging Trends Study (n = 2,398). Based on variables reflecting differences in care hours, activities, and care provided by the whole network, we create network typologies for those with two or more caregivers (n = 1,309) using K-means cluster analysis. We estimate multinomial and logistic regression models to identify factors associated with network type and the association between type and unmet needs. We conduct analyses overall and for older adults living with and without dementia.

RESULTS

Analyses reveal four network types: Small, low-intensity shared care network (SCN); large, moderate-intensity SCN; small, low-intensity primary caregiver network (PCN); and moderate-sized, high-intensity PCN. Among all older adults receiving care, 51% have a sole caregiver, 20% have an SCN with no primary caregiver, and 29% have a PCN. Among older adults with dementia receiving intense care, unmet needs are lower among those with an SCN (vs. PCN).

DISCUSSION AND IMPLICATIONS

Findings underscore that the primary caregiver construct, although common, does not apply to a substantial share of care networks. Moreover, having an SCN when needs are high may be beneficial to meeting older adult's needs.

Caregiving to Older Adults With a Physical Limitation: Evidence From the Mexican Health and Aging Study

Background and Objectives

Many older adults face physical limitations to performing activities of daily life (ADLs) and instrumental activities of daily life (IADLs) and seek help performing them. In Mexico, family caregivers, especially spouses and adult children, traditionally take care of older adults. However, a detailed characterization of the care received has not been thoroughly provided. We sought to identify socioeconomic, demographic, and health-related differences in receiving help among older adults reporting physical limitations.

Research Design and Methods

Using the 2012 wave of the Mexican Health and Aging Study, we provided information on adults aged 60 and older who reported one or more physical limitations and whether they received help or not. We estimated 2 logistic regression models to obtain the odds ratios (ORs) of receiving help among individuals with an ADL limitation and those with an IADL limitation.

Results

Adults with ADL limitations received, on average, approximately 10.7 hr of assistance per day, whereas those with at least 1 IADL limitation received around 7.7 hr of help per day. Women were more likely to receive help with ADLs than men (OR = 2.35). Individuals with chronic conditions such as hypertension, diabetes, and arthritis also received more help with both ADLs and IADLs.

Discussion and Implications

Our work suggests that help received does respond to the care needs of older adults, but future research should focus on the burden of care for caregivers and expand this analysis using a longitudinal data approach.

Empowering families to take on a palliative caregiver role for patients with cancer in India: Persistent challenges and promising strategies

BACKGROUND

The population of patients with cancer requiring palliative care (PC) is on the rise in India. Family caregivers will be essential members of the care team in the provision of PC.

OBJECTIVE

We aimed to characterize provider perspectives of the challenges that Indian families face in taking on a palliative caregiving role.

METHOD

Data for this analysis came from an evaluation of the PC-PAICE project, a series of quality improvement interventions for PC in India. We conducted 44 in-depth semi-structured interviews with organizational leaders and clinical team members at seven geographically and structurally diverse settings. Through thematic content analysis, themes relating to the caregivers' role were identified using a combination of deductive and inductive approaches.

RESULT

Contextual challenges to taking up the PC caregiving role included family members' limited knowledge about PC and cancer, the necessity of training for caregiving responsibilities, and cultural preferences for pursuing curative treatments over palliative ones. Some logistical challenges include financial, time, and mental health limitations that family caregivers may encounter when navigating the expectations of taking on the caregiving role. Strategies to facilitate family buy-in for PC provision include adopting a family care model, connecting them to services provided by Non-Governmental Organizations, leveraging volunteers and social workers to foster PC awareness and training, and responding specifically to family's requests.

CONCLUSION

Understanding and addressing the various challenges that families face in adopting the caregiver role are essential steps in the provision and expansion of PC in India. Locally initiated quality improvement projects can be a way to address these challenges based on the context.

NonContributory Pensions, Functional Limitations, and Unpaid Family Care for Older Adults in Mexico

Objectives: We explore the effects of non-contributory pensions on functional limitations and receipt of unpaid family care by gender and frequency of pension payment. Methods: We employ a difference-in-differences estimator to identify the causal effects of non-contributory pension programs disbursed monthly or every two months for adults 70 years and older in the state of Yucatan, Mexico. Results:The monthly payment program led to lower difficulties in functional limitations and less receipt of help from family or relatives for older men and women as compared to the bimonthly program. We found a larger decline on receipt of family care for older women than for men. Discussion:Our results suggest that more frequent pension payments may have greater health benefits for recipients. They also highlight the need for greater understanding of policies that prevent or delay functional limitations and that could indirectly alleviate unpaid caregiver burden.

Associations between spousal caregiving and health among older adults in Mexico: A targeted estimation approach

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate associations between spousal caregiving and mental and physical health among older adults in Mexico.

METHODS

Data come from the Mexican Health & Aging Study, a national population-based study of adults ≥50 years and their spouses (2001-2015). We compared outcomes for spousal caregivers to outcomes for those whose spouses had difficulty with at least one basic or instrumental activity of daily living (I/ADL) but were not providing care; the control group conventionally includes all married respondents regardless of spouse's need for care. We used targeted maximum likelihood estimation to evaluate the associations with past-week depressive symptoms, lower-body functional limitations, and chronic health conditions.

RESULTS

At baseline, 846 women and 629 men had a spouse with ≥1 I/ADL. Of these, 60.9% of women and 52.6% of men were spousal caregivers. Spousal caregiving was associated with more past-week depressive symptoms for men (Marginal Risk Difference (RD): 0.27, 95% confidence internal [CI]: 0.03, 0.51) and women (RD: 0.15, 95% CI: 0.07, 0.23). We could not draw conclusions about associations with lower-body functional limitations and chronic health conditions. On average, all respondents whose spouses had caregiving needs had poorer health than the overall sample.

CONCLUSION

We found evidence of an association between spousal caregiving and mental health among older Mexican adults with spouses who had need for care. However, our findings suggest that older adults who are both currently providing or at risk of providing spousal care may need targeted programs and policies to support health and long-term care needs.