University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA.
J Appl Gerontol. 2022 Feb;41(2):515-525. doi: 10.1177/0733464820971134. Epub 2020 Nov 6.
Policymakers and community organizations have implemented numerous programs and services to support the more than 40 million family caregivers in the United States. However, the existence of such services is not sufficient to ensure equitable and optimal access and utilization. Using data from the Caregiving in the US study (2015; = 1,185), we estimated that nearly one in five family caregivers do not meet broad eligibility criteria for support services. This resource gap was particularly likely to affect high-priority populations such as those caring for someone with a mental health problem. Furthermore, ineligible caregivers had lower service utilization and increased financial strain. The findings highlight a pattern of vulnerability among caregivers who do not meet broad eligibility criteria for financial support resources. Careful policy consideration is needed to determine how support services should be allocated to maximize caregiver and care recipient outcomes at the population level.
政策制定者和社区组织已经实施了许多项目和服务，以支持美国超过 4000 万的家庭护理人员。然而，这些服务的存在并不能确保公平和最佳的获取和利用。利用来自“美国护理研究”（2015 年；n=1185）的数据，我们估计，近五分之一的家庭护理人员不符合支持服务的广泛资格标准。这种资源差距特别可能影响到高优先级人群，如照顾有心理健康问题的人。此外，不符合条件的护理人员的服务利用率较低，经济压力较大。这些发现突显了不符合广泛经济支持资源资格标准的护理人员的脆弱性模式。需要仔细考虑政策，以确定如何分配支持服务，以最大限度地提高护理人员和护理接受者在人群层面的结果。
