Change Over Time in Caregiving Networks for Older Adults With and Without Dementia.

ABSTRACT:

Objectives

We provide national estimates of caregiving networks for older adults with and without dementia and examine how these networks develop over time. Most prior research has focused on primary caregivers and rarely on change over time.

Method

We identify a cohort of older adults continuously followed in the National Health and Aging Trends Study between 2011 and 2015 and receiving help from family members or unpaid caregivers in 2015 (n = 1,288). We examine differences by dementia status in network size, types of assistance and task sharing, and composition-differentiating between "specialist" and "generalist" caregivers helping in one versus multiple activity domains. Multinomial regression is used to estimate change over time in network task sharing and composition.

SUBMITTER: Spillman BC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7424285 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature