HHS4U Families In Canada

Caregiver identity theory helps us understand the different ways caregiving affects people, the relationship between caregiver and care recipient, and distress that caregiving may cause. 

 

Read the article below, from Statistics Canada that compares different types of caregivers and the consequences that may arise from caregiving. After carefully reading the article, answer the following three questions. 

 

Family caregiving: What are the consequences? 

 

According to current research and statistics, who provides the majority of the care in families in Canada? 

What impact might the trend have on family members? What are the psychological, social, and economic effects of being the primary caregiver in a family? 

Consequences of family care giving

There are different consequences of family care giving. According to the article, the different consequences include depression, health and psychological problems, financial difficulties and reduced time available for other activities.

Who provides majority of care in families in Canada?

According to the study, there are different categories of people who provide family care to patients. The study established that 28% of Canadians who are 15 years and above either provide care to family members or friends suffering from long term health conditions. The care provider can either be a child to the patient or a spouse (Aoun et al., 2015). The study notes that 39% provide care to their fathers while 8% provide care to their spouse and partners and finally 5% provide care to their children .This therefor means that care is provided by different people as long as they are 15 years and above.

Impact that family care giving can have on family members

Family care giving has many impacts on the family. The impacts or consequences can either be psychological, economic or productivity at the place of work. According to the article, individuals who provide family care often endure a tough path. Economic distress occur since majority of them do not have enough money to look after their loved ones.

Psychological problems are also common among the family care givers. The study acknowledge the fact that taking care of a loved one needs enough finances. As earlier explained, majority of those that take care of their family members are financially incapacitated (Cullen & Solomon, 2011). They therefore endure moments of stress juggling in between expenditure on the patient and their daily needs. Stress has also been attributed to the fact that the care providers are unsure if their loved ones that they are looking after would ever get better and assume normal life and activities.

Another consequence of providing care is low productivity at the workplace. In the article, it is clear that continuous family care affects the productivity of the care giver at the workplace. This is due to the fact that the care giver has to request for a leave on several instances so that they can be accorded ample time to look after the patients (Lee et al., 2014). Besides the numerous leaves, the stress that arise out of care giving affects the concentration of the care givers at the workplace and this generally affects their overall productivity.

Fatigue is another consequence or impact of providing care. According to the article, providing care is a very labor intensive activity especially in elderly patients or those suffering from extreme conditions and cannot carry out any activity.The study also noted that providing care in most cases requires one to establish balance between their job and care giving.This two factors have been associated with fatigue among the different care givers. Finally, the care givers are limited to take part in other activities. This is because they spend most of their time looking after the patients.

References

Aoun, S., Toye, C., Deas, K., Howting, D., Ewing, G., Grande, G., & Stajduhar, K. (2015). Enabling a family caregiver-led assessment of support needs in home-based palliative care: Potential translation into practice. Palliative Medicine, 29(10), 929-938. doi:10.1177/0269216315583436

Cullen, S. W., & Solomon, P. L. (2011). Family Community Integration and Maternal Mental Health. Administration and Policy in Mental Health and Mental Health Services Research, 40(2), 133-144. doi:10.1007/s10488-011-0386-4

Lee, B. R., Ebesutani, C., Kolivoski, K. M., Becker, K. D., Lindsey, M. A., Brandt, N. E., … Barth, R. P. (2014). Program and practice elements for placement prevention: A review of interventions and their effectiveness in promoting home-based care. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 84(3), 244-256. doi:10.1037/h0099811