Centre for Policy on Ageing



Institutional respite care — breaking chores or breaking social bonds?
Author(s)	Valerie Braithwaite
Journal title	The Gerontologist, vol 38, no 5, October 1998
Pages	pp 610-617
Keywords	Informal care ; Boarding out schemes ; Usage [services] ; Evaluation ; Australia.
Annotation	The stress involved in caregiving at home is widely acknowledged. This article asks why respite care is evaluated positively by caregivers, yet it is often not used by those considered to be in need of the service. Data from interviews with 144 caregivers in Canberra, Australia, are the basis for examining the relationship between five appraisal dimensions and respite care usage, both in the past and the future. The dimensions derive from a 1996 study by the author, and represent: task load caregiving; dysfunctional caregiving; inner strength and efficacy; intimacy and love; and social captivity. The results indicate that use of respite care is higher when the task demands of caregiving are high, and when caregivers and care receivers are bound together in dysfunctional caregiving relationships. The factor most likely to reduce the likelihood that respite care will be used in the future when past use is controlled, is the caregiver's appraisal of an intimate and loving relationship between caregiver and care receiver. (RH).
Accession Number	CPA-990309008 A
Classmark	P6: KTB: QLD: 4C: 7YA
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...from the Ageinfo database published by Centre for Policy on Ageing.