Effect of caregiving relationship and formal long-term care service use on caregiver well-being

Aim: Despite efforts to revise the traditional long-term care (LTC) model, informal caregivers continue to provide a substantial amount of support to older adults as front-line care providers. The present study aimed to understand the effect of informal caregiving on caregivers' well-being in Singapore with respect to different types of patient-caregiver relationships. Second, this study examined the association between formal LTC service use and caregivers' well-being.

Methods: Two waves of data for 781 dyads of patients with LTC needs and their caregivers from a longitudinal study were analyzed. Multilevel regression models were used to examine the association between caregivers' well-being (self-rated general health, stress level and quality of life) and LTC service use among different patient-caregiver relationships.

Results: Spousal caregivers reported significantly lower quality of life compared with adult children caregivers. Non-immediate family caregivers showed better overall well-being compared with spouse and adult children caregivers. Caregivers of patients referred to nursing homes reported higher levels of stress and poorer self-rated general health compared with caregivers of patients referred to community-based services. Spouse and non-immediate family caregivers of patients who utilized nursing home or home-based services presented poorer self-rated general health than caregivers of the patients who did not use any formal services.

Conclusions: Developing a better understanding of the associations between well-being and formal LTC service use for different types of patient-caregiver relationships is critical for policy makers and healthcare providers who aim to create holistic systems of care. Geriatr Gerontol Int 2017; 17: 1714-1721.