The impact of caring upon the health of older women

Abstract

Abstract: Much community care relies upon the provision of unpaid care by family members. The short‐ and longer‐term effects of providing care upon older women were researched in an interview survey of 286 women aged over 50 in urban and rural areas of Queensland. The findings were validated by reports from the women's general practitioners. The results suggest that providing care has both short‐ and long‐term negative effects upon the physical health and emotional wellbeing of older women. The major predictor of a range of self‐reported health problems was the level of self‐reported stress. Implications are drawn for both community care policy, which needs to focus upon the impact on the carer of continuing to provide care at home, and for health research relating to older women, which has ignored the demands of caring among older people. 1994 Public Health Association of Australia