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Caregiving Situation as a Predictor of Subjective Caregiver Burden: Informal Caregivers of Older Adults during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Author

Listed:
  • Simona Hvalič-Touzery

    (Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Ljubljana, Kardeljeva Ploščad 5, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia)

  • Marina Trkman

    (Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Ljubljana, Kardeljeva Ploščad 5, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia)

  • Vesna Dolničar

    (Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Ljubljana, Kardeljeva Ploščad 5, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia)

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has created and exacerbated emotional, financial, and technical challenges for informal caregivers of older people. The aim of this study was to explore the caregiving situation and subjective burden of informal caregivers of older family members during COVID-19, and to investigate how a caregiving situation’s characteristics predict the subjective burden of care in times of COVID-19. The study was conducted in April and May 2021 via an online access panel. The sample (n = 612) was determined using a screening test that enabled us to focus on a Slovenian population of informal caregivers aged 40+ caring for a person aged 65+ for at least four hours/week on average. Our findings reveal that the subjective burden of care was high among informal caregivers during COVID-19. Multiple regression analysis showed that the provision of activities of daily living, care duration, average hours of care per week, formal care status, and recipients’ health problems related to dementia or other memory problems significantly predicted the subjective burden of caregivers. These findings call for better recognition of the role of informal caregivers. The time and effort devoted to informal care should be supported by legislation and social security.

Suggested Citation

  • Simona Hvalič-Touzery & Marina Trkman & Vesna Dolničar, 2022. "Caregiving Situation as a Predictor of Subjective Caregiver Burden: Informal Caregivers of Older Adults during the COVID-19 Pandemic," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(21), pages 1-21, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:21:p:14496-:d:963703
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Eileen Rocard & Ana Llena-Nozal, 2022. "Supporting informal carers of older people: Policies to leave no carer behind," OECD Health Working Papers 140, OECD Publishing.
    2. Lidia Farré & Yarine Fawaz & Libertad González Luna & Jennifer Graves, 2020. "How the covid-19 lockdown affected gender Inequality in paid and unpaid work in Spain," Economics Working Papers 1728, Department of Economics and Business, Universitat Pompeu Fabra.
    3. Sara Santini & Marco Socci & Paolo Fabbietti & Giovanni Lamura & Andrea Teti, 2022. "Factors Worsening and Mitigating the Consequences of the COVID-19 Outbreak on the Overall Health of Informal Caregivers of Older People with Long-Term Care Needs Living in Germany and in Italy," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(3), pages 1-21, February.
    4. Clemens Tesch-Römer & Giovanni Lamura, 2021. "Older adults in the first wave of the Corona pandemic," European Journal of Ageing, Springer, vol. 18(2), pages 145-147, June.
    5. Aviad Tur-Sinai & Andrea Teti & Alexander Rommel & Valentina Hlebec & Giovanni Lamura, 2020. "How Many Older Informal Caregivers Are There in Europe? Comparison of Estimates of Their Prevalence from Three European Surveys," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(24), pages 1-17, December.
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