A National Profile of Family and Unpaid Caregivers Who Assist Older Adults With Health Care Activities

Family and unpaid caregivers commonly help older adults who are at high risk for poorly coordinated care.

To examine how caregivers' involvement in older adults' health care activities relates to caregiving responsibilities, supportive services use, and caregiving-related effects. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: A total of 1739 family and unpaid caregivers of 1171 community-dwelling older adults with disabilities who participated in the 2011 National Health and Aging Trends Study (NHATS) and National Study of Caregiving (NSOC). MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES: Caregiving-related effects, including emotional, physical, and financial difficulty; participation restrictions in valued activities; and work productivity loss. EXPOSURES: Caregivers assisting older adults who provide substantial, some, or no help with health care, defined by coordinating care and managing medications (help with both, either, or neither activity, respectively).