Examination of Caregiver Logistics in a National Sample of Family Caregivers of Older Veterans

TL;DR

This study explores the logistical challenges faced by family caregivers of older Veterans when attending medical visits.

Contribution

The paper presents findings from a national survey on caregiver logistics and their association with caregiver burden and recipient characteristics.

Findings

Caregiver logistics are influenced by sociodemographic factors and recipient characteristics.

Bivariate analyses revealed associations between ADL/IADL and visit logistics.

Descriptive statistics summarized caregiver demographics and visit challenges.

Abstract

Family caregivers of older Veterans face challenges in coordinating visit-associated logistics. Based on a national survey we developed, we were able to learn more about some of these challenges. In this talk, we share results as we examined caregiver logistics of attending a medical visit. Descriptive statistics including means, standard errors, and percentages, were used to summarize the sociodemographic characteristics of caregiver respondents. Associations between caregiver and care recipient characteristics and caregiver burden were examined in bivariate analyses using chi-square tests of independence for categorical variables and t-tests for continuous variables. Relationships between variables related to ADL and IADL and visit-associated logistics were examined using t-tests.