Willingness Factors in a Self-Quantification Program for Family Caregivers of Community-Dwelling Older Adults with Long-Term Care in Japan

Abstract

Objective This study aimed to examine the characteristics of willingness to participate in the self-quantification program for family CGs who provide long-term care to community-dwelling older adults. The family CGs, allocated based on the percentage of the nation’s older population who needed care and met the inclusion criteria, who provided caregiving at least once a week for those aged 65 + and who were certified as needing care under the Japanese long-term care insurance program, were collected through online monitors. We compared the characteristics of the program participants and nonparticipants using logistic regression. Results A total of 2653 family CGs whose data were available for all the variables of interest were analyzed. A total of 195 family CGs were willing to participate in the self-quantification program for 60 days. The survey included program participants who were predominantly male (55.9%), with an average age of 54.8 years (SD = 10.2). Participants tended to be fully employed (OR = 1.8; p < 0.01), but they were likely to experience greater burdens (OR = 1.8; p < 0.01) and daily caregiving demands (OR = 1.01; p < 0.01). This research highlights the potential efficacy of self-quantification programs for extensively burdened family CGs, illustrating that the requisites for support vary in accordance with the distinct characteristics of these CGs.