BackgroundParental care for a child with a developmental disability is an enormous responsibility, one that can far exceed that of typical parental care. While most parents adapt well to the situation of caring for a child with a disability, some do not. To understand parents' adaptations to their children's disabilities, the complex nature of stress processes must be accounted for and the constructs and factors that play a role in the caregiving must be considered.DiscussionEvidence suggests that there is considerable variation in how caregivers adapt to their caregiving demands. Many studies have sought to qualify the association between caregiving and health outcomes of the caregivers. Contextual factors such as SES, child factors such as child behaviour problems and severity of disability, intra-psychic factors such as mastery and self-esteem, coping strategies and social supports have all been associated with psychological and/or physical outcome or parents or primary caregivers. In reviewing these issues, the literature appears to be limited by the use of traditional analytic approaches which examine the relationship between a factor and an outcome. It is clear, however, that changes to single factors, as represented in these studies, occur very rarely even in the experimental context. The literature has also been limited by lack of reliance on specific theoretical frameworks.SummaryThis conceptual paper documents the state of current knowledge and explores the current theoretical frameworks that have been used to describe the caregiving process from two diverse fields, pediatrics and geriatrics. Integration of these models into one comprehensive model suitable for this population of children with disabilities and their caregivers is proposed. This model may guide future research in this area.

The findings of this study indicate that there are substantial discrepancies between self-reported and administrative data among older adults. Researchers seeking to examine health-care use among older adults need to consider these discrepancies in the interpretation of their results. Failure to recognize these discrepancies between survey and administrative data among older adults may lead to the establishment of inappropriate health-care policies.

Background: It has been well established that increasing age is associated with decreasing functional ability in older adults. It is important to understand the specific factors that affect instrumental activities of daily living (IADL) and functional independence among older adults with sensory disabilities.

RÉSUMÉOn a examiné la prévalence, les facteurs de risque et les troubles médicaux associés aux déficiences de la vue et de l'ouïe chez les adultes canadiens de 55 ans et plus. On a établi un échantillonnage aléatoire à partir des recensements canadiens de 1986 et 1991 et on a demandé aux citoyens qui en faisaient partie de remplir le Sondage sur la santé et les limitations d'activité (ESLA) de 1986 et 1991. On a constaté que les aîné(e)s de 65 ans et plus présentaient plus de déficiences sensorielles que ceux de 55 à 64 ans. Les hommes signalaient plus de difficultés de l'ouîe que les femmes tandis que les femmes présentaient plus de difficultés de la vue que les hommes. On a constaté que l'incidence des difficultés sensorielles semblait augmenter avec l'âge et avec la diminution de revenu total de la maisonnée. Ce sont les cataractes et la surdité qui ont été le plus souvent mentionnées comme cause de restriction des activités de la vie quotidienne dans les deux groupes d'âge. Les difficultés sensorielles sont fréquentes chez les aîné(e)s. Les initiatives de santé publique devraient se pencher sur les difficultés de la vue et de l'ouïe, particulièrement chez les aîné(e)s, les femmes et les gens à faible revenu.