Quality of Life and Well-being of Carers of People With Dementia: Are There Differences Between Working and Nonworking Carers? Results From the IDEAL Program

The aim of this study was to identify the differences in quality of life (QoL) and well-being between working and nonworking dementia carers and the relative contribution of psychological characteristics, caregiving experience, and social support. Multiple regressions modeled the contribution of wor...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of applied gerontology 2021-07, Vol.40 (7), p.752-762
Main Authors: Clarke, Rachel, Farina, Nicolas, Chen, Henglien Lisa, Rusted, Jennifer M.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Caregivers
Caregiving
Dementia
Gender relations
Mental health
Psychological aspects
Quality of life
Self esteem
Social support
Stress
Well being
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Summary:The aim of this study was to identify the differences in quality of life (QoL) and well-being between working and nonworking dementia carers and the relative contribution of psychological characteristics, caregiving experience, and social support. Multiple regressions modeled the contribution of working status, caregiver experiences, and psychological and social resources to carer QoL (EQ-5D) and well-being (WHO-5). After controlling for age, gender, carer–dyad relationship, and severity of dementia, working status contributed significant variance to EQ-5D (2%) but not to WHO-5 scores. Independent of working status, higher self-esteem and reduced stress contributed to variance in both models. Self-efficacy, social support, and positive perceptions of caregiving additionally contributed to higher WHO-5 scores. Working status associated with higher EQ-5D QoL; this may reflect the sustained sense of independence associated with supported work opportunities for carers. Outside of working status, the findings support the importance of psychological and social factors as targets to improved mental health for dementia carers.
ISSN:0733-4648
1552-4523
DOI:10.1177/0733464820917861