Agreement in perceptions of care by older care recipients and their caregivers

27th Annual Meeting of the Southern Gerontological Society, Lexington, KY

2006

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Problem. Based on Time 1 data from the Family Relationships in Late Life (FRILL 2) Project, information was collected at research sites in Pittsburgh, PA, Athens, GA, and Tuscaloosa, AL from over 400 caregiver (CG) and care recipient (CR) dyads. One objective of the study is to obtain a profile of the quality of care given to older persons by their informal CGs. Approach. Analysis of interview data from both CRs and their CGs investigated agreement on identical measures regarding the nature and quality of care given to CRs. Summary of Findings. Substantial disagreement was evident in correlational analyses. In contrast to CG responses, CRs perceived themselves to be in better overall health, able to perform more ADLs, to need less medical care, to be more socially isolated, and to experience more financial exploitation and potentially harmful behaviors. Although CGs perceived more physical neglect, CGs believed that they offered better care than did CRs. Conclusions. Explanations will be offered for the low level of agreement in information provided by CRs and their CGs.

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