Differences in Service Attitudes and Experiences Among Families Using Three Types of Support Services One goal of support services for family members of Alzheimer's patients is to facilitate the use of other formal services. Few existing studies empirically test the relationship between support service use and the use of other community or residential services. This research describes the relationship between support and other service use by comparing families who used three types of support services: • Information and referral • Educational programs; and • Support groups. Data from in-person interviews with 127 family caregivers showed that families who used one of the three support services differed in the use of other services, service attitudes, past service experiences, and reasons for support service use. Results profile the characteristics of families who turn to different types of support services and illustrate the importance of past service characteristics for explaining current and future utilization. Information and referral (I & R), educational programs, and support groups are commonly provided support services for family members of Alzheimer's disease victims. These three support services share the common goal of facilitating and encouraging the use of other formal services for Alzheimer patients and their family members. Despite this goal, research on support services has seldom considered whether their use is related to the use of other services. Read more
Predictors of the Use of Respite Services by Caregivers of Alzheimer’s Patients Racial and Generational Differences This research applies one prominent model of service utilization (the Andersen Newman Model) to better understand the way in which family care givers utilize respite services when caring for older relatives. Specifically, this research examines racial (black and white) and generational (spouse and adult-child) differences between caregivers of Alzheimer's patients and the volume and type of respite services used. The sample (N= 359) is drawn from six Northeast Ohio programs in a consortium that uses a personal computer-based information system to collect intake, assessment, service use, and program satisfaction data from respite clients. Racial differences are found in client attrition and turnover. Results also show adult-child caregivers are the greatest users of day care. These generational differences persist despite the similarities in patient and caregiver need. Fee subsidy and relationship strain between the caregiver and elder predict the amount of service used. Findings suggest that practitioners need to take into account racial and generational factors in addition to traditional patient and caregiver needs when formulating care plans. Read more
Predictors of In-Home and Out-Of-Home Service Use By Family Caregivers of Alzheimer’s Disease Patients Few studies have examined whether the use of different types of services is predicted by different characteristics of elderly care recipients and primary kin caregivers. Most research aggregates services into a single category, thereby assuming that different services have the same predictors. This investigation differs from the aggregation approach by comparing four groups of elderly care recipients: in-home service of users, out-of-home service users, users of both in- and out-of-home services, and those who do not use services. Data come from personal interviews with 171 family caregivers of mild to moderate dementia patients who reside in the community. Using the modified Andersen framework and multiple group discriminant analysis, results show that care recipients who do not use services and those using only in-home services have inadequate informal supports, more emotionally strained caregivers, and more functionally impaired care recipients compared with users of out-of-home or both in- and out-of-home services. Read more
The Maturation of a Multiagency Computerization Effort for Alzheimer’s Respite Services This paper reports on a two-year project which developed a computerized multiagency database of respite service users. The project’s primary aim was to make seven non-profit respite programs technologically self-sufficient in terms of clinical information. The outcomes of computerization for these agencies are discusses, as well as modifications during the post-project period. Read more
Respite Use and Caregiver Well-Being in Families Caring for Stable and Declining AD Patients The current controversy about respite's value centers on consistent reports of no significant reduction in caregiver strain with respite service use. In this study one explanation for the inability of prior research to document respite's impact is offered. This research demonstrates that respite may well reduce depression, reported health problems and family relationship strain in families caring for stable AD patients and may stabilize caregiver strain in families of declining AD patients. Read more
Involvement of Elders in Care-Related Decision A Black/White Comparison This research uses data from 244 family caregivers to examine racial differences in the composition of care-related decision-making networks. Analyses reveal blacks are significantly less likely to identify the older care recipient as involved or as the key decision maker when compared to whites. The older individual's physical and mental impairments are also important predictors of the involvement in decision making. Discussion addresses sensitivity to racial differences and elder cognitive capacity in assessing older individual decision-making involvement. Read more
Predicting the Volume of Health and Social Services Integrating Cognitive Impairment into the Modified Andersen Framework This investigation examined cognitive impairment as a predictor of the volume of community services used by older adults. Predictors of service volume were selected according to the modified Andersen framework and tested with 97 health care and 246 social service clients of a large multiservice agency. Results for health care clients showed that the effects of four predictors differ depending on clients’ level of cognitive impairment: living arrangement, presence of secondary caregivers, client depression, and task burden of the primary caregiver. No differences in predictors of social service use were observed for cognitively impaired and lucid clients. Read more
The Influence of Caregiving and Bereavement Support on Adjusting to an Older Relative’s Death This study examines the influence of both caregiving social support to an impaired older relative and bereavement social support to a surviving caregiver on that caregiver's bereavement adjustment. Although past research has considered the link between bereavement support and adjustment to a loved one's death, the influence of support to the care recipient has not been investigated. Analyses of prospective panel data from 73 spouse and adult-child caregivers show caregiving support characteristics to be more important for bereavement adjustment than support provided to the surviving caregiver after their relative's death. Read more
Enhancing Mutual Respect Among Nursing Assistants, Residents, and Residents’ Families Interviews with nursing assistants and residents revealed ways in which they experience respect, disrespect, attachment, and distancing in their relationships with each other. As a result of these findings, an in-service session on interpersonal respect was developed for nursing assistants. Manifestations of disrespect and strategies for promoting mutually respectful relationships among residents, their families, and staff in the facility are presented. Read more
