Double-duty caregivers enduring COVID-19 pandemic to endemic: “It’s just wearing me down”

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has considerably strained health care providers and family caregivers. Double-duty caregivers give unpaid care at home and are employed as care providers. This sequential mixed-method study, a survey followed by qualitative interviews, aimed to comprehensively understand the experiences of these Canadian double-duty caregivers amidst the pandemic and the transition to the endemic phase. The multi-section survey included standardized assessments such as the Double-duty Caregiver Scale and the State Anxiety Scale, along with demographic, employment-related, and care work questions. Data analysis employed descriptive and linear regression modeling statistics, and content analysis of the qualitative data. Out of the 415 respondents, the majority were female (92.5%) and married (77.3%), with 54.9% aged 35 to 54 years and 29.2% 55 to 64 years. 68.9% reported mental health decline over the past year, while 60.7% noted physical health deteriorated. 75.9% of participants self-rated their anxiety as moderate to high. The final regression model explained 36.8% of the variance in participants’ anxiety levels. Factors contributing to lower anxiety included more personal supports, awareness of limits, younger age, and fewer weekly employment hours. Increased anxiety was linked to poorer self-rated health, and both perceptions and consequences of blurred boundaries. The eighteen interviewees highlighted the stress of managing additional work and home care during the pandemic. They highlighted the difficulty navigating systems and coordinating care. Double-duty caregivers form a significant portion of the healthcare workforce. Despite the spotlight on care and caregiving during the COVID-19 pandemic, the vital contributions and well-being of double-duty caregivers and family caregivers have remained unnoticed. Prioritizing their welfare is crucial for health systems as they make up the largest care workforce, particularly evident during the ongoing healthcare workforce shortage.

The Effect of the COVID Pandemic on Clinical Psychology Research: A Bibliometric Analysis

“…We acknowledge that the timeframe (i.e., 2 years from the start to the end of the COVID pandemic) examined in the present study may be too short for a significant increase to be observed in the number of research articles published that examined mental health in women and men. Given that the time for scientific research to go through the peer-review process and ultimately be published has been estimated at 9 months (for STEM fields) to 18 months (for social sciences, arts/humanities, and business/economics; [ 34 ]) future work should re-examine the difference in the number of published research articles that examine mental health in women and men to determine if that disparity changes when viewed at a larger time frame (e.g., 5 or 10 years from the start of the COVID pandemic), and as the pandemic shifts to an endemic [ 35 ].…”

Double-Duty Carers’ Health and Wellbeing during COVID-19: Exploring the Role of Mobility of the Care Economy in Southern Ontario, Canada

“…The COVID-19 pandemic complicated DDCs’ health and wellbeing [ 10 ]. Research illustrates that, during the pandemic, 63% of carers reported an increase in unpaid caregiving duties due to a myriad factors, including an increase in the needs of dependents and difficulty accessing health services [ 11 ].…”