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Social connectedness of carers: An Australian national survey of carers.
- Source :
- Health & Social Care in the Community; Nov2022, Vol. 30 Issue 6, pe5612-e5623, 12p
- Publication Year :
- 2022
-
Abstract
- Carers of people living with a disability, mental health problems, alcohol or drug dependency, chronic condition, terminal illness or who are frail due to age may experience negative caregiving impacts. Although carers' social isolation has been reported in many qualitative studies, it has largely been neglected in quantitative studies. Using data collected in the Carers NSW 2020 National Carer Survey, this large‐scale quantitative study aimed to identify the extent of Australian carers' social connectedness and what factors may be related to their social well‐being. The validated Friendship Scale was used to measure social connectedness of 5585 carers. More than half (56.2%) of these carers were socially isolated. Analysis found that a longer duration of caring, more time spent weekly caring, living with the care recipient, caring for a greater number of people, receiving no help from others, higher reported psychological distress and reporting perceived needs were all associated with greater social isolation. Identifying as female or nonbinary/gender diverse, identifying with a culturally and linguistically diverse background, and caring as a parent, former partner or young carer were also related to poorer social connectedness. Health and social services need to consider the needs of carers, identify carers who are socially isolated and provide resources to promote social connectedness. Greater attention in practice and research to focus on carers' social connectedness to address this crucial caregiving experience is required. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Subjects :
- WELL-being
CAREGIVER attitudes
FRIENDSHIP
STATISTICS
SOCIAL support
CONFIDENCE intervals
SOCIAL networks
MULTIPLE regression analysis
ONE-way analysis of variance
QUANTITATIVE research
SOCIAL isolation
SURVEYS
FAMILY roles
T-test (Statistics)
INTERPERSONAL relations
PSYCHOLOGY of caregivers
QUESTIONNAIRES
SCALE analysis (Psychology)
CHILD welfare
DESCRIPTIVE statistics
RESEARCH funding
SOCIODEMOGRAPHIC factors
FAMILY relations
STATISTICAL sampling
DATA analysis software
DATA analysis
ODDS ratio
SOCIAL case work
PSYCHOLOGICAL distress
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 09660410
- Volume :
- 30
- Issue :
- 6
- Database :
- Complementary Index
- Journal :
- Health & Social Care in the Community
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 160812927
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1111/hsc.13987