With a Little Help From My Friends and Family: Transportation and Caregiving Hours

Abstract

Objectives: To better understand the associations between the driving status of the care recipient and caregiver with provided caregiving hours, more research on the relationships between contextual caregiving factors and driving-related behaviors is needed. Method: Using data from Round 7 of the National Health and Aging Trends Study (NHATS) and the linked National Survey of Caregiving (NSOC; n = 1054 dyads), this study explored how caregiver transportation assistance and care recipient driving frequency are associated with caregiving hours. Results: Caregiving hours were highest among caregivers who provided transportation every day and among care recipients who had not driven in the last month. After controlling for covariates, negative binomial regression results indicated that greater caregiver transportation assistance was related to more caregiving hours, while greater care recipient driving frequency was related to less caregiving hours. Conclusion: Integrated supports and greater accessibility to transportation services may decrease time spent caregiving.