Intergenerational Relationships, Family Caregiving Policy, and COVID-19 in the United States

Stokes, Jeffrey E.; Patterson, Sarah

doi:10.1080/08959420.2020.1770031

Cited by 65 publications

(73 citation statements)

References 23 publications

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“…Compounding this problem, members of the middle generations of multigenerational families often find themselves providing support to their older parents and their own children simultaneously (Fingerman et al, 2011; Fingerman et al, 2016). The COVID‐19 pandemic is likely to complicate support decisions in multigenerational families (Stokes & Patterson, 2020). Families may be even more likely to concentrate their support resources toward particular family members.…”

Section: Multigenerational Social Support Exchanges and The Covid‐19 mentioning

confidence: 99%

Multigenerational social support in the face of the COVID‐19 pandemic

Gilligan

Suitor

Rurka

et al. 2020

J of Family Theo & Revie

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Research documents high levels of instrumental, financial, and expressive support exchanges within multigenerational families in the 21st century. The COVID‐19 pandemic poses unique challenges to support exchanges between the generations; however, the pandemic may provide opportunities for greater solidarity within families. In this review, we draw from theoretical perspectives that have been used to study family relationships to understand the implications of the pandemic for multigenerational families: the life course perspective, the intergenerational solidarity model, and rational choice/social exchange theory. We review literature on multigenerational relationships in the United States and discuss how established social support patterns and processes may be altered by the COVID‐19 pandemic. We reflect on how the impact of the COVID‐19 pandemic on multigenerational relationships may vary by gender, race, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status. Finally, we provide directions for future researchers to pursue in order to understand the lasting impacts of the COVID‐19 pandemic on multigenerational ties.

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Section: Multigenerational Social Support Exchanges and The Covid‐19 mentioning

confidence: 99%

Multigenerational social support in the face of the COVID‐19 pandemic

Gilligan

Suitor

Rurka

et al. 2020

J of Family Theo & Revie

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“…Older individuals are overrepresented among COVID-19 deaths, 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 raising questions of how to best mitigate patterns of social contact as the pandemic progresses. 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 Researchers have underlined the importance of living arrangements and household composition, such as care homes, crowded housing, and mixed-age households, as well as social contacts outside the household for understanding the spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 7 , 8 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 Living arrangements shape the contact that older adults have with individuals from within or outside the household.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Residential context and COVID-19 mortality among adults aged 70 years and older in Stockholm: a population-based, observational study using individual-level data

Brandén

Aradhya

Kolk

et al. 2020

The Lancet Healthy Longevity

136

126

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Background Housing characteristics and neighbourhood context are considered risk factors for COVID-19 mortality among older adults. The aim of this study was to investigate how individual-level housing and neighbourhood characteristics are associated with COVID-19 mortality in older adults. Methods For this population-based, observational study, we used data from the cause-of-death register held by the Swedish National Board of Health and Welfare to identify recorded COVID-19 mortality and mortality from other causes among individuals (aged ≥70 years) in Stockholm county, Sweden, between March 12 and May 8, 2020. This information was linked to population-register data from December, 2019, including socioeconomic, demographic, and residential characteristics. We ran Cox proportional hazards regressions for the risk of dying from COVID-19 and from all other causes. The independent variables were area (m 2 ) per individual in the household, the age structure of the household, type of housing, confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the borough, and neighbourhood population density. All models were adjusted for individual age, sex, country of birth, income, and education. Findings Of 279 961 individuals identified to be aged 70 years or older on March 12, 2020, and residing in Stockholm in December, 2019, 274 712 met the eligibility criteria and were included in the study population. Between March 12 and May 8, 2020, 3386 deaths occurred, of which 1301 were reported as COVID-19 deaths. In fully adjusted models, household and neighbourhood characteristics were independently associated with COVID-19 mortality among older adults. Compared with living in a household with individuals aged 66 years or older, living with someone of working age (<66 years) was associated with increased COVID-19 mortality (hazard ratio 1·6; 95% CI 1·3–2·0). Living in a care home was associated with an increased risk of COVID-19 mortality (4·1; 3·5–4·9) compared with living in independent housing. Living in neighbourhoods with the highest population density (≥5000 individuals per km 2 ) was associated with higher COVID-19 mortality (1·7; 1·1–2·4) compared with living in the least densely populated neighbourhoods (0 to <150 individuals per km 2 ). Interpretation Close exposure to working-age household members and neighbours is associated with increased COVID-19 mortality among older adults. Similarly, living in a care home is associated with increased mortality, potentially through exposure to visitors and care workers, but also due to poor underlying health among care-home residents. These factors should be considered when developing strategies to protect this group. Funding Swedish Research Council for Health, Working Life and Welfare (FORTE), Swedish Foundation for Humanities and Social Sciences.

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“…These “sandwich generation” caregivers are already likely to experience extreme difficulty balancing the demands of caring for a parent, their own children, and managing work ( Yin et al, 2002 ). During the Covid-19 pandemic, the older adult is at elevated risk for infection when the informal caregiver works outside their home ( Stokes & Patterson, 2020 ) and possibly when coming into regular contact with their grandchildren, who may be silent vectors ( Kelvin & Halperin, 2020 ). In a recent study, major factors increasing caregiver burden were identified as financial issues and caring for additional others ( Schmaderer et al, 2020 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Caregiving in Quarantine: Evaluating the Impact of the Covid-19 Pandemic on Adult Child Informal Caregivers of a Parent

Archer

Reiboldt

Claver

et al. 2021

Gerontology and Geriatric Medicine

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Informal caregivers form a shadow workforce projected to become even more essential as the U.S. population ages. Most are untrained in the role and manage caregiving with competing life demands that compound burden and threaten the welfare of the older adults in their care. The 12-item Zarit Burden Interview measure was employed to investigate differences in subjective burden before and during the Covid-19 pandemic among adult children who are primary informal caregivers of a parent. Additionally, this study explored family composition to determine if the presence of siblings or dependent children affected burden scores. A convenience sample ( N = 77) reported significantly more burden since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic when compared to pre-pandemic burden. Since the pandemic began, those with living siblings reported less burden than those without siblings, while there was no difference in burden between sandwich generation caregivers and those providing care only for a parent. This study’s results point to the role family plays in resilience during a crisis and emphasizes the need to promote efficient supports and networks to alleviate caregiver burden.

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Intergenerational Relationships, Family Caregiving Policy, and COVID-19 in the United States

Cited by 65 publications

References 23 publications

Multigenerational social support in the face of the COVID‐19 pandemic

Multigenerational social support in the face of the COVID‐19 pandemic

Residential context and COVID-19 mortality among adults aged 70 years and older in Stockholm: a population-based, observational study using individual-level data

Caregiving in Quarantine: Evaluating the Impact of the Covid-19 Pandemic on Adult Child Informal Caregivers of a Parent

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