Caregiving Situation as a Predictor of Subjective Caregiver Burden: Informal Caregivers of Older Adults during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has created and exacerbated emotional, financial, and technical challenges for informal caregivers of older people. The aim of this study was to explore the caregiving situation and subjective burden of informal caregivers of older family members during COVID-19, and to investigate how a caregiving situation’s characteristics predict the subjective burden of care in times of COVID-19. The study was conducted in April and May 2021 via an online access panel. The sample (n = 612) was determined using a screening test that enabled us to focus on a Slovenian population of informal caregivers aged 40+ caring for a person aged 65+ for at least four hours/week on average. Our findings reveal that the subjective burden of care was high among informal caregivers during COVID-19. Multiple regression analysis showed that the provision of activities of daily living, care duration, average hours of care per week, formal care status, and recipients’ health problems related to dementia or other memory problems significantly predicted the subjective burden of caregivers. These findings call for better recognition of the role of informal caregivers. The time and effort devoted to informal care should be supported by legislation and social security.

Mental health impact of the COVID‐19 pandemic on patients with neurodegenerative diseases and perceived family caregiver burden in Lima, Peru

“…Few studies have assessed the burden of caregiving responsibilities during the pandemic in LMICs. However, in high‐income countries, such as Japan, rates of caregiver burden have been reported at 31% (Hattori et al., 2023 ), while studies from Germany and Slovenia also found caregiver burden increase during the pandemic.Factors that exacerbated caregiver burden were an increase in caregiving and loss of support, multiple patient health problems, and increased care duration (Budnick et al., 2021 ; Hvalič‐Touzery et al., 2022 ). In LMICs, such as in India, caregiver burden was exacerbated by feelings of helplessness and new situations brought about by lockdown and the pandemic (Mukherjee et al., 2022 ).…”

The experiences of caregiving and the coping strategies of informal caregivers of people with major neurocognitive disorders.

“…This makes family members the informal caregivers for people with MNCDs. Dolničar et al (2022) broadly defined informal caregivers as individuals without training in healthcare who provide care for family members, other relatives, partners, friends, and neighbours with a disability, long-term psychiatric or medical illness, or problems related to ageing. Family caregivers care for their affected relatives by attending to their individual, medical, domestic, economic, and conveyance requirements (Mahomed & Pretorius, 2022).…”