Primary Family Caregivers of Impaired Elderly in Shanghai, China

Abstract

This study investigates kin differences in caregiver burden using a 1989 survey of impaired elderly and their caregivers from Shanghai, China. Indicators of caregiver burden include feelings of fatigue, loss of personal time, and expressed need for formal service support. To explain kin differences, four factors are analyzed: caregiving involvement, elderly need for care, familial support, and sociodemographic characteristics of the caregiver. Findings indicate that wives and married daughters express the greatest feelings of fatigue and loss of personal time. Kin differences on these dimensions are explained by caregiving involvement and elderly need for care. In contrast, the child generation, particularly married sons and daughters-in-law, express the greatest need for formal service support. This is related to their greater reliance on familial support from non-coresiding relatives and to sociodemographic characteristics reflecting a less traditional cultural orientation and greater economic resources to pay for services. Implications for service delivery are discussed.