Family Support Project: Final Report to the Administration on Aging (Caring for Aged Family Members)

摘要

Results are presented of a project undertaken to implement and assess family support services that were aimed at enhancing the ability and willingness of families to retain the primary responsibility for caring for aged family members. An experimental design was used to assess the impact of family support programs that provided family training in conjunction with volunteer respite services. The family units consisted of elderly persons who were being assisted by a family member and at least one family member who was providing regular care or assistance. The findings suggest that one of the major challenges of service providers is locating families early enough to help them with their caregiving tasks. Data indicate also that caregivers who were spouses and received respite benefits reported lower levels of objective burden. Findings suggest that a volunteer program is likely to be successful only when it is designed to augment a paid respite program. Program developers are also warned against underestimating the amount of professional staff time that is necessary to operate a volunteer program.