Pflegende Angehörige und Gesundheitsförderung

Abstract

The ARR is a German assessment instrument to survey physical and psychological resources and risks of elderly family caregivers (50+). Factor structure, reliability, and validity were investigated using a sample of 202 caregivers from a national health insurance company. The factorial validity was confirmed for the physical profile (PHP) and the psychological profile (PSP). Reliability is good (PHP: Cronbach's α=0.73; PSP: Cronbach's α=0.71) for the shortness of the profiles. The correlation with self-efficacy constitutes an indicator for construct validity. The psychometric qualities allow the conclusion that the ARR is a reliable and valid instrument which is of interest for family caregivers. Nevertheless, further testing of validity is required.

Associations Between Informal Caregivers’ Burden and Educational Level

“…The gender-related finding of the present study – that women feel burdened significantly more often than men, both physically and mentally, because of caregiving – is supported by the literature (Budnick et al, 2012; Klaus & Tesch-Römer, 2014). Following the results of a US American survey, caregiver’s burden also correlated positively with higher-hour caregivers and primary caregivers (National Alliance for Caregiving and AARP, 2015).…”

“…The mental burden in turn results from the experience of being permanently homebound and, in many cases, having to meet the demands of providing continuous around-the-clock care. Other burdens associated with the provision of continuous care include interrupted sleep, limited social life, financial strain, and the generally negative impact on caregivers’ own family life (Budnick, Kummer, Blüher, & Dräger, 2012; Dunkle et al, 2014; Kim, Shaffer, Carver, & Cannady, 2014). Intragenerational caregiving – in other words, caring for a spouse or partner – has a particularly negative effect on caregivers’ self-rated well-being, as a recent study by Hajek and König shows (2016a).…”