University of Sussex
Browse

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

Download (968.73 kB)
journal contribution
posted on 2023-06-09, 20:52 authored by Rachel Clarke, Nicolas Farina, Henglien ChenHenglien Chen, Jennifer Rusted
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.

History

Publication status

  • Published

File Version

  • Accepted version

Journal

Journal of Applied Gerontology

ISSN

0733-4648

Publisher

SAGE Publications

Volume

0

Page range

1-11

Department affiliated with

  • BSMS Neuroscience Publications

Full text available

  • Yes

Peer reviewed?

  • Yes

Legacy Posted Date

2020-03-18

First Open Access (FOA) Date

2020-03-18

First Compliant Deposit (FCD) Date

2020-03-17

Usage metrics

    University of Sussex (Publications)

    Categories

    No categories selected

    Exports

    RefWorks
    BibTeX
    Ref. manager
    Endnote
    DataCite
    NLM
    DC