CDC Report: Older patients with caregivers and assistance for activities of daily living: 1998 and 2000
From a new report out of the Centers for Disease Control:
Many older community-dwelling adults reside with a caregiver, either family or nonfamily members. This living arrangement may result from one or more of the following situations: marriage, cultural norms (1), or the financial need or functional impairment of the care recipient (2). Combined data on discharged patients from the 1998 and 2000 National Home and Hospice Care Surveys reveal that 76 percent of those 65 years and over usually lived with their primary caregiver during the episode of care. A primary caregiver is an individual who is responsible for providing personal care assistance, companionship, and/or supervision to a patient (3). Over 80 percent of the primary caregivers in our sample were informal caregivers: spouses or children (including daughters-in-law or sons-in-law). More males than females lived with their primary caregiver, 90 percent versus 68 percent (p < 0.001), most likely due to men being cared for by their spouses who outlived them.