How do eldercare providers feel?-Evidence from the American time use survey
Wan He
US Census Bureau, USA
: J Aging Geriatr Med
Abstract
Eldercare needs are growing as increasingly longer life expectancy coupled with chronic diseases at older ages have produced a larger number of older people with functional limitations or ill health. Data show that the vast majority of elderly live at home and their care is provided by unpaid, informal caregivers who are usually family members. Research on eldercare often focuses on care recipients, but it is important to understand the health and well-being of those who provide eldercare. This study uses data from the American Time Use Survey Well-Being Module and examines eldercare providers’ experienced feelings during their daily activities. We found that eldercare providers in general reported relatively high levels of positive well-being or low levels of negative well-being on the six measurements in the survey (happy, meaningful, sad, stressed, tired, and in pain). Older eldercare providers at ages 65 and over were better able to cope with tiredness and stress while younger providers at ages 15 to 34 experienced less pain. There are also gender differences in well-being. Women reported a higher level of positive feelings (happy and meaningful) than men. Living arrangements can make a difference. Married eldercare providers reported being happier and feeling more fulfilled than those who weren’t. We also found that eldercare providers fared less well than their non-providers counterpart, but interestingly they were more likely to feel that what they were doing was meaningful, and this pattern was observed across age, sex, race and ethnicity.
Biography
Wan He is a Senior Technical Expert on aging research at US Census Bureau. Her main research focus is the population aging process and socio-demographic-health characteristics of the older population in the United States and other countries in the world. She has extensive experience conducting analyses using large datasets, and has authored/co-authored numerous publications on population aging. Some of the popular reports include subjective well-being of eldercare providers; older Americans with a disability; an aging world series; 65+ in the United States series, and health and well-being of older populations in SAGE countries series.
E-mail: wan_he@yahoo.com
