Parents of children with developmental disabilities have been reported to experience higher levels of stress than parents of typically developing children. This stress has been found to lead to adverse effects for both parents and children. Respite has been found to be a buffer of stress in the short term. The objective of this study was to: determine the types of respite Saskatchewan parents are using; and examine the correlational relationship between formal and informal respite use and child behaviour concerns, child adaptive skills, and parental stress. Open-ended questions related to additional influences on respite use were also analyzed. The current study examined respite use in 26 parents in Saskatchewan who have children between the ages of 6 and 18 with a diagnosed developmental disability. The Respite Information Questionnaire (adapted from Preece & Jordon, 2007) was used to explore the types and hours of respite use, child behaviour concerns, and child adaptive needs. Parental stress levels were measured with the Parental Stress Scale (Berry & Jones, 1995). Descriptive statistics, correlations and Mann-Whitney U statistical tests were used to analyze data gathered from the questionnaire and Parental Stress Scale. Results from this research showed that Saskatchewan parents used a range of formal (e.g., care homes, trained individual respite providers) and informal respite (e.g., siblings, grandparents) both in type and hours of use. No relationship was found between formal and informal respite use and child adaptive skills or parental stress. A preliminary relationship between child behavioural concerns and stress was found, indicating that as child behavioural concerns increase so does formal respite use. However, a basic thematic analysis of open-ended questions showed that parents felt respite services were limited as a result of their child`s behavioral concerns. This suggests child behavioural concerns should be considered in respite policy and program development.

Background. While the provision of respite care is a well-known strategy for supporting caregivers of persons with dementia (PWD), it is still unclear what influences its use by caregivers. Objective. To explore respite care use through the lens of a hopes and expectations framework. Methods. Six caregivers of PWD took part in one semi-structured interview. A phenomenological approach to data collection and analysis was employed. Results. The data showed that caregivers still felt burdened despite utilizing respite care. Hopes and expectations for the PWD tended to converge for all caregivers, yet diverged depending whether they were considering impact on themselves or the PWD, and whether they had used respite care or not. Conclusion. Preliminary data suggests that respite care services may need to focus more on helping caregivers. The framework of hopes and expectations is useful for exploring the use or non-use of respite.

No description available.

Hospice services are utilized by more than 1.6 million people yearly, and there are a great number of caregivers who are tasked with caring for these individuals at home. Caregivers are at risk for fatigue, burnout, and decline in their own physical and mental health. While the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) cover costs of temporary respite care for hospice patients, the caregivers' needs for respite care are often unrecognized and unaddressed. The purpose of this project was to plan a respite program within the hospice agency consisting of revised respite policy and procedures, the Caregiver Reaction Assessment (CRA) tool to routinely assess the caregiver for burnout and/or fatigue, and a detailed outline for the implementation of respite care. Anderson's behavioral model of service was used to guide the project's understanding of the underutilization of respite services. This project was guided by the practice-focused question examining the development of an evidence based caregiver respite program within the hospice agency. The program was developed based on a review of peer reviewed research studies and the input of a project team of local experts. The project team participated in the project that created a respite policy which includes a biweekly caregiver assessment and step-by-step directions on how to implement respite care. A final report was developed and submitted to the Hospice agency. This revised policy and procedure includes a blueprint for implementation and a full set of recommendations on the process, use of the CRA, educational in-services, and evaluative methods. These recommendations have the potential for positive social change by increasing patient and caregiver outcomes, serving as an example for other hospice agencies to follow, and improving care at the end of life.

This study addressed gaps in the literature on caregiver burden involving lack of information about the multiple strains of caregiving families, their coping patterns, and positive as well as negative aspects of caregiving. The primary objective was to examine the relationship among caregiving strains, patterns of coping responses employed, and the resulting objective and subjective burden. A model describing the relationship of these variables guided the study. The design was a mail survey of 97 caregivers living in Southwestern Virginia who were caring for a sick or disabled family member, age 60 or older (response rate=81%). Family strain was correlated with both subjective and objective burden. Only one coping pattern that dealt with understanding the medical situation was marginally correlated with objective burden at p < .10. No coping patterns were correlated with subjective burden. Based on stepwise multiple regression analysis, the variables that were significant in explaining the variance in objective burden were health of the caregiver and family strain. The presence of home health services and family strain were significant in explaining the variance in subjective burden. Qualitative analysis identified major themes of positive and negative aspects of caregiving, with the majority of caregivers reporting both. Implications of these findings for future research include the importance of examining family strain when studying caregiver burden, assessing problems with the conceptualization of coping, evaluating the effectiveness of different measures of coping patterns, and investigating the balance of costs and rewards related to caregiving. Implications for practice include the importance of health workers considering multiple sources of strain in the family. Caregivers need optimistic but realistic information about the situation. Staff members should promote the caregiver's confidence in the management of the medical situation. Governmental and service agencies need to assist caregivers in relieving problems with restrictions on time and activities, and provide an opportunity for the exchange of information about managing home care. Future researchers need to study the influence of home health services on caregiving by comparing the coping patterns and subjective and objective burden of caregivers who receive this service and those who do not. / Ph. D.

The research question of this study explores beliefs helping professionals have about caregiving services. The survey provided to participants of this study examined beliefs concerning what services are most important for caregivers to have access to, as well as what are the most significant barriers caregivers may experience when attempting to access or receive such services. Findings from this study indicate that the most important respite care services for caregivers to have access to include overnight/weekend care, access to short breaks and socialization, access to training/education, and support with providing activities of daily living for the care recipient. Findings from this study also indicate the most significant barriers to caregivers accessing or receiving services are misgivings about trusting another individual with the care of a loved one, feeling overwhelmed, and not being adequately prepared for the responsibilities of being a caregiver at discharge from a hospital setting. It is important for Social Work practitioners to be aware of the respite needs of caregivers, as well as potential barriers to accessing services that would help to address those needs.

This dissertation describes a study that investigated the perceptions of foster/whānau caregivers of support and training provisions in Canterbury, New Zealand. The study used both qualitative and quantitative methods. The qualitative component consisted of six questions presented to caregivers at individual or couple interviews. Major themes identified in the response to these questions indicated that participants are generally feeling under-supported and disrespected by social services staff, overwhelmed by the range, severity and difficulty of their children's behaviours, isolated in their role, unable to access relief care and a lack of provision and support for training in local areas. Participants also indicated a desire for training on the etiology and management of difficult child behaviours, managing birth family contact and legal issues relating to allegations and permanency. Areas of current support that caregivers indicated are useful included the support provided by Caregiver Liaison Social Workers, school and early childhood education staff, general practitioners, and other caregivers The quantitative component consisted of a survey covering basic demographic information. A modified child behavioural checklist, containing selected items from the 'Child Behaviour Checklist' and the 'Assessment Checklist for Children' was constructed to assess the range of problematic child behaviours caregivers are experiencing and how prepared they felt in dealing with them. Findings indicated that the participants are experiencing a range of severe behaviours well outside the normal experience of parents but are consistent with those reported in the international literature for children in care. The PSI was used to assess caregiver's stress levels relating to their parenting role. Participants reported high levels of stress particularly in the child domain of the PSI with sub-scales in the high to clinical range across this domain. Implications of theses results are discussed including implications for the caregivers, social welfare practices and the development of future training packages for caregivers.

Thesis (M. Ed.)--University of Canterbury, 2008. / Typescript (photocopy). "March 2008." Includes bibliographical references (leaves 143-153). Also available via the World Wide Web.

Thesis (Ph.D.) - University of Queensland, 2004. / Includes bibliographical references.

No description available.