Suchergebnisse

AbstractReciprocal benefits may exist in relationships between carers and their adult sons/daughters with intellectual disabilities, but the topic has not been widely studied. The present study investigated whether older carers of adult children with intellectual disabilities perceive emotional and tangible reciprocity in their relationships and the association between perceived reciprocity with quality of life. The authors surveyed 91 parental carers (aged 50+ years, mean = 60.8). Bivariate correlations and hierarchical regression analyses assessed the relationship between tangible and emotional reciprocity and carer quality of life variables (physical and mental health, depressive symptomatology, life satisfaction) and carers' desire for an alternative residential situation of their son/daughter. Overall, more tangible and emotional support was given than received from their adult children. However, despite varying levels of intellectual disability and functional impairments of their care recipient, carers did report receiving considerable support. Relative disadvantage (i.e., giving more than received) in tangible reciprocity was associated with increased depressive symptomatology and poorer mental health but also reduced desire for seeking an alternative residential situation for the person for whom they are caring. These relationships were attenuated after covariance analyses. Emotional reciprocity was not associated with any of the outcome measures. The results suggest that perceptions of reciprocity are relevant in caregiving for intellectual disability and may be an underappreciated asset in coping with caregiving.

Abstract Family caregiving is increasingly recognized as an important clinical and public policy issue across diverse age groups, and for care recipients with varying physical and mental impairments. While families provide extensive care for aging individuals with intellectual disabilities (ID), family issues directly related to the aging of persons with ID have been understudied. We review major findings in the broader literature on the impact of family caregiving on the caregiver, and the existing research on aging, caregiving, and ID. Aging caregivers for people with ID may be at special risk because of age‐related health and behavioral declines in the aging care recipient and caregiver, the extensive duration of the caregiving role, and concerns about the long‐term care of the care recipient. Balancing these concerns are the normative nature of parental caregiving, and expertise and sense of mastery possibly gained by long‐term caregivers, which may serve to offset the wear and tear of years of caregiving and additional strains of aging. Topics deserving greater attention in future research on caregiving, aging and ID include longitudinal studies of caregiver adaptation, racial/ethnic diversity issues, and assessment of the mental health, physical health, social, and economic impacts on caregivers compared with non‐caregiving age‐matched controls. Intervention studies are also needed to identify evidence‐based interventions to support family caregivers.

Family members are involved in every aspect of end-of-life decision making and care. The present article reviews family involvement in providing care during chronic and terminal illness, in discussions and plans for advance directives, in decision making during chronic illness, in executing advance directives and making critical decisions near the end of life, and the long-lasting effects of caregiving and difficult decisions on the family member during bereavement. Although legal standards and much of the research on end of life emphasize individual decision making and the value of autonomy, end-of-life care and decisions should be increasingly understood within a family context. There is also increasing need to study how issues of race, ethnicity, and culture affect end-of-life care and decisions within families.