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Centre for Policy on Ageing | |
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| When home care ends - changes in the physical health of informal caregivers caring for dementia patients: a longitudinal study | | Author(s) | Elmar Gräsel |
| Journal title | Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, vol 50, no 5, May 2002 |
| Pages | pp 843-849 |
| Keywords | Health [elderly] ; Informal care ; General practice ; Usage [services] ; Dementia ; Longitudinal surveys ; Germany. |
| Annotation | The physical health of former caregivers improves in the long term once they cease to provide home care. 720 German primary caregivers of dementia patients living in the community were assessed for physical complaints with the 24-item Giessen Symptom List (subscales: aching limbs, heart complaints, physical exhaustion). Although the somatic symptoms of 427 active caregivers remained stable at a high level, they decreased significantly (24%) in the group of 121 former caregivers. Simultaneously, the number of visits former caregivers made to doctors almost doubled. The reason why home care was terminated (death or institutionalisation) did not influence health variables or health service use. The fact that former caregivers go to the doctor much more frequently is to be interpreted as an indication that they take the time to attend to their own physical and medical needs. (RH). |
| Accession Number | CPA-020701209 A |
| Classmark | CC: P6: L5: QLD: EA: 3J: 767 |
Data © Centre for Policy on Ageing |
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| ...from the Ageinfo database published by Centre for Policy on Ageing. |
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