Paper
Friday, July 23, 2004
This presentation is part of : Aging and the Community
Predictors of Use of Community Resources
Karen M. Robinson, DNS, RN, CS, FAAN, University of Louisville School of Nursing, Louisville, KY, USA
Learning Objective #1: Describe barriers to use of community resources by caregivers of people with dementia
Learning Objective #2: Identify the predictors of which caregivers are more likely to use community resources
The majority of caregivers do not use community resources until late in the disease process. However, the judicious use of community resources has been found to delay nursing home admission. The purpose of this aspect of a larger longitudinal intervention study was to examine predictors of use of community resources among caregivers of persons with dementia. A profile of caregivers using services versus those not using services was developed. Existing data from Hall and Buckwalter’s Progressively Lowered Stress Threshold model experimental study were used in this effort. The sample included a total of 245 caregivers reflecting a mix of spouse and adult caregivers with a mean age of 64.6 years. The majority of caregivers in this large, geographically diverse sample did NOT attend support groups (73%) or use respite services (79%). Only 27% attended support groups, whereas only another 3.7% used 40hours/week of respite.

Logistic regression was used to examine which variables were related to use of community resources. Use of community resources was defined as receiving respite or assistance, whether from professional or non-professional sources. Caregivers were divided into two groups, those who used 2 or more hours per week of community resources and those who used less. Four variables were found to have a statistically significant unique effect on use of community resources. Being a spouse of the recipient decreased the odds of using resources (p<.01). The odds that the care recipient would use community resources increased as the care recipient’s Global Deterioration Scale increased (p<.01) and as the frequency of memory-and behavioral problems increased (p<.05; Zarit Memory-Behavior Problem Checklist). The Nagelkerke R Square for the logistic regression model was 0.298. Recommendations are made regarding how to more appropriately target limited resources to those caregivers most in need of services.

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Sigma Theta Tau International
July 22-24, 2004