Spilling over Strain between Elders and Their Caregivers in Hong Kong

Abstract

According to the dialectical model, the well-being of the older care recipient, the informal caregiver, and the professional care provider mutually affect each other. Particularly, the caregiver's strain can affect the care recipient's well-being both positively and negatively. Moreover, the task-specific model suggests that as social workers are responsible for maintaining elders' well-being, the workers' strain would be particularly influential on the elders' well-being. To clarify these dialectic relationships, the present study surveyed the three parties involved in home help or home care services in Hong Kong over two successive waves using a panel design. This study reveals the significant negative effect the professional care provider's earlier strain has on the elder's later well-being. Moreover, the social worker's earlier strain was particularly detrimental to the elder's later well-being. In contrast, the effect of the informal caregiver's earlier strain was not significant. Additionally, the elder's well-being had no significant impact on the strain of either the professional care provider or the informal caregiver. Findings of this study support the qualification of the dialectical model by the task-specific model to yield a model of channeled spillover. Accordingly, dialectical influence requires a channel to materialize the spillover effect.

Interpersonal Influences Between the Care Provider's Burnout and the Older Care Recipient's Quality of Life

“…These probabilities were results of the logistic regression analysis of follow-up response on Wave 1 well-being variables (Stolzenberg & Relles, 1997). Such results had appeared in a previous report (Cheung & Chow, 2006).…”

Caring in the wake of the rising tide: Moral distress in residential nursing care of people living with dementia

“…Austin et al (2003) noted that many physical symptoms accompany moral distress, such as headaches, stomach problems, and other physical reactions. Cheung and Chow (2006) have also noted that when nursing care providers experience moral strain, it can have negative spill-over effects on the well-being of older residents.…”

Spousal Interrelations in Old Age – A Mini-Review

“…For example, time-sampling research by Holtzman and DeLongis [83] demonstrates that satisfaction with spousal behaviors relates to declines in concurrent pain levels in chronic arthritis patients. Finally, spousal declines in health in old age almost inevitably place the other spouse into the role of the caregiver at some point and ultimately widowhood [84][85][86] . Caregiving and widowhood tend to be female experiences.…”