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Survey of Older Minnesotans - Archives
2001 Issues Briefs - Informal
Caregiving
The majority of long-term care in Minnesota is provided informally at
no expense to public coffers. Family members, friends and neighbors
provide most of the assistance to individuals who want to remain in their
homes but need help with daily activities because of chronic illness or
disability. The importance of these caregivers will increase as the
population ages over the coming decades and the number of seniors at risk
of requiring help with daily functional tasks rapidly grows. At the same
time however, increasing numbers of women in the workforce, changing
family patterns and greater geographic dispersion of family members have
put additional strain on family caregivers and contribute to a decline in
their availability. Recognizing and supporting family caregivers will
become a central component in Minnesota’s long-term care system.
How Many Seniors Have Informal Caregivers?
Seniors age 60 and over were asked if they had someone to help them if
they became sick or disabled. Most older people (seven out of eight)
report that would have someone to take care of them. In fact, slightly
more seniors report they have a caregiver available now than they did 13
years ago (88%, 2001 vs. 86%, 1988). There are subpopulations however, who
are less likely to have a caregiver. Older people who live alone are much
less likely to have caregivers than those living with others, as are those
75 years and older and those with annual incomes less than $12,000.
Figure 1
Percent of Older Minnesotans Who Report That They Would Have Someone to
Provide Long-Term Care for Them Should They Need It
Most seniors say they would rely on a spouse (54%) or adult child (37%)
for caregiving. The proportion relying on children however, is higher for
seniors age 85 or older (52%) and for seniors living alone (50%).
Table 70
Who Helps Seniors When Sick or Disabled?
Elderly Rates of Disability in the State are Decreasing
Reports that national rates of disability among the elderly are
decreasing (Manton, et al, 19971) are verified here in
Minnesota as well. The percent of seniors age 60 and older with functional
limitations has significantly decreased since 1988. Having difficulty
shopping for groceries or doing heavy housework.
Table 71
Functional Status of Minnesota Seniors
1 Difficulty doing a functional activity because of health or
physical problems.
2 Heavy housework includes scrubbing floors, mowing the grass, or
washing windows.
3 Light housework includes doing dishes, straightening up, or
light cleaning.
4 Personal care includes bathing, dressing, washing hair, or
showering.
Fewer Seniors Are Getting Help With Daily Functioning
Except for heavy and light housekeeping, the proportion of older
Minnesotans receiving help with functional activity limitations has
dramatically decreased from 1988 to 2001. In 1988 for example, 84 percent
of seniors needing help to prepare their meals said someone helped them;
in 2001, 67 percent said they were getting assistance in preparing their
meals. Similar decreases in assistance were also indicated for grocery
shopping, managing money, getting outside the home and personal care. So,
although more people reported that there was a caregiver who could help
them if needed, fewer people who need help were actually getting help.
Figure 2
Someone Helps with Daily Functioning
Who Provides Assistance With Functional Activities?
Table 3 shows the persons who actually provided assistance with various
activities of daily living in both 1988 and 2001. Informal caregivers,
especially spouses and children are still the main sources of assistance
for seniors with functional limitations.
Table 72
Who Helps Seniors with Functional Activities?
However, Indications that the present informal network may be stretched
beyond capacity are evident:
- There is a significant decrease in the number of older person who
mentioned spouses, other relatives, friends or neighbors as providers of
personal care or assistance with getting outside from 1988 to 2001.
- At the same time significantly fewer agencies are providing
assistance in preparing meals, heavy housework, personal care and
getting outside.
- The number of persons purchasing services available for hire such as
heavy housework, light housework, and personal care has dramatically
increased in the last 12 years.
- Except for light and heavy housework, the percent of respondents
with functional limitations who are not receiving any assistance with
these limitations has significantly increased.
- The percent of seniors living alone has also slightly increased
(from 26 percent to 28 percent).
How Many Seniors are Providing Informal Care Today?
The number of seniors who describe themselves as caregivers is growing.
In 2001, about 13 percent of seniors said they were currently providing
care for or giving assistance to someone because of their injury,
disability, medical condition or inability to care for themselves up from
about 10 percent in1988. They are equally likely to be males or females,
to be working or not and represent all age groups, income and educational
levels. Married seniors are however, more likely to provide caregiving
than those not married (15 Percent vs. 9 percent). Seniors living alone
are less likely to be caregivers than those who live with others (15
percent vs. 8 percent).
Who Are They Caring For?
Six percent of all married seniors are currently providing care for
their spouse. Forty percent of married seniors who identified themselves
as caregivers are spouse-caregivers. Men and women are equally likely to
find themselves in the role of spousal caregiver.
Looking at all caregivers, spouses are still the predominant care
recipients (see Figure 3) although the percentage of spouse-caregivers has
dropped significantly since 1988. Older caregivers are more likely to
provide care to parents, friends or neighbors and less likely to care for
spouses, parents-in-law or brothers and sisters in 2001 than they were in
1988.
Over half of the sons and daughters cared for by seniors in 2001 are
developmentally disabled. While only 5 percent of the respondents report
that they are caring for grandchildren, these children are overwhelmingly
young (under 19 years of age). None of their caretakers however have legal
custody nor did any want to get legal custody.
Figure 3
For Whom Are Older Minnesotans Providing Care?
How Many Hours of Care Do They Provide In a Typical Week?
The average senior caregiver in Minnesota provides care for 18 hours a
week. Number of hours range from less than one hour up to "constant care
"of 168 hours per week. About one in ten provides 40 or more hours of care
per week. Female caregivers spend more time on average than male
caregivers (21 hours compared to 11 hours per week).
Figure 4
Weekly Hours of Caregiving Provided to Family/Friends
ABOUT THE SURVEY
The data presented in this report are based on the 2001 Survey of Older
Minnesotans conducted by the Minnesota Center for Survey Research under
contract with the Minnesota Department of Human Services. A randomly
selected statewide representative sample of 2,011 adults ages 60 or older
were interviewed by phone between April 16 and August 6, 2001. The margin
of sampling error is +/- 2.2 percentage points. For results based on
subgroups of respondents the margin of error is higher.
Significant differences (P< .01) between subgroups of seniors are
indicated by an *. Continuous variables were compared using 1-way analysis
of variance and categorical variables were analyzed using the c 2
test.
Results from the 2001 Survey of Older Minnesotans were compared with
survey results reported for 1988. Significant population differences
between 1988 and 2001 are also indicated by an *. For a complete
description of the 1988 study see: Fischer, L.R., Mueller, D.P., Cooper,
P.W., and Chase, R.A.; Older Minnesotans: What Do They Need? How Do
They Contribute? St. Paul Minnesota: Amherst H. Wilder Foundation,
1989.
1Manton, K. Corder, L. and Stallard, E. (1997) Chronic
Disability Trends in Elderly. United States Populations:1982-1994.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Science. 94:2593-2598.
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