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Part III. Socio-cultural Perspective |
Healthy Aging for CaregiversWhat Are Their Needs?
TINA WUa AND
KAREN LOb
a Department of Social Work, Shih-Chien University, Taipei, Taiwan b Simon Fraser University, Biology Department, Vancouver, BC, Canada
Key Words: caregiver • needs assessment • confirmatory factor analysis • LISREL • structural equation modeling method
Address for correspondence: Dr. Tina Wu, Associate Professor, Department of Social Work, Shih-Chien University, # 70, Tah-Chih Street, Taipei, Taiwan. Voice: 886-2-25381111: ext.: 6915; fax: 886-2-25338622. twu{at}mail.usc.edu.tw
The aim of this study was to design a culture-sensitive scale to measure caregiver's burden for the purpose of identifying their needs in Taiwan. In this study, four factors were identified as caregiver's top priority needs: "personal factors," "relation factors," "financial factors," and "reward factors." Definitions for each factor are also discussed. The total variances explained by the four factors are 34%, 13%, 9%, and 8%, respectively. The results show caregivers in Taiwan place more emphasis on their physical and emotional interaction with the care-receivers than is found in other cultures. Policy recommendations inferred from these findings are made. It is necessary for the government or organizations to provide services to fulfill caregivers' needs to promote a healthy aging process of the caregivers themselves. Participants who cared for their elderly parents or relatives were selected randomly from the island of Taiwan. The total selected sample size of caregivers is 2524, who were caring for 3504 persons. Data were analyzed by univariate, bivariate, and multivariate methods. Maximum Likelihood Extraction Factors Analysis and LISREL for Structural Equation Modeling methods were used to confirm and make final the structure of the scale. Recommendations and suggestions are provided for further studies on culturally sensitive projects.
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