School of Economics and Management, Beijing Jiaotong University, Haidian District, Beijing, P.R. China.
Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.
Palliat Med. 2021 Mar;35(3):574-583. doi: 10.1177/0269216320979277. Epub 2020 Dec 18.
Understanding the determinants of the intensity of informal care may assist policy makers in the identification of supports for informal caregivers. Little is known about the utilization of informal care throughout the palliative care trajectory.
The purpose of this study was to analyze the intensity and determinants of the use of informal care among cancer patients over the palliative care trajectory.
This was a longitudinal, prospective cohort design conducted in Canada. Regression analysis using instrumental variables was applied.
SETTING/PARTICIPANTS: From November 2013 to August 2017, a total of 273 caregivers of cancer patients were interviewed biweekly over the course of the care recipient's palliative care trajectory. The outcome was the number of hours of informal care provided by unpaid caregivers, that is, hours of informal care.
The number of hours of informal care increased as patients approached death. Home-based nursing care complemented, and hence, increased the provision of informal care. Patients living alone and caregivers who were employed were associated with the provision of fewer hours of informal care. Spousal caregivers provided more hours of informal care. Patient's age, sex, and marital status, and caregiver's age, sex, marital status, and education were associated with the number of hours of informal care.
The intensity of informal care was determined by predisposing, enabling, and needs-based factors. This study provides a reference for the planning and targeting of supports for the provision of informal care.
了解非正式护理强度的决定因素可能有助于政策制定者确定对非正式护理人员的支持。对于姑息治疗过程中非正式护理的利用情况知之甚少。
本研究旨在分析姑息治疗过程中癌症患者非正式护理的强度和决定因素。
这是在加拿大进行的一项纵向、前瞻性队列设计。采用工具变量回归分析。
设置/参与者：2013 年 11 月至 2017 年 8 月，共对 273 名癌症患者的护理人员进行了访谈，每周两次，持续患者姑息治疗轨迹。结果是无偿护理人员提供的非正式护理时间，即非正式护理时间。
随着患者接近死亡，非正式护理的时间增加。家庭护理服务补充了非正式护理的提供，从而增加了非正式护理的提供。独居患者和有工作的护理人员与提供较少的非正式护理时间有关。配偶护理人员提供的非正式护理时间更多。患者的年龄、性别和婚姻状况以及护理人员的年龄、性别、婚姻状况和教育程度与非正式护理时间有关。
非正式护理的强度取决于倾向、赋权和需求因素。本研究为规划和确定非正式护理支持提供了参考。
