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Psychosocial and Cognitive Health Differences by Caregiver Status Among Older Mexican Americans

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Abstract

This study identifies the risk and protective factors associated with informal caregiving by older (≥70 years) Mexican Americans and profiles caregiving arrangements. Overall, a greater number of informal caregivers (n = 92) were married and female. They also had higher physical functioning and better cognition than non-caregivers (n = 1,888) but fewer visited a physician regularly. Informal caregivers also showed an increased risk of depressive symptoms. A third of caregivers spent more than 20 h/day caregiving and the majority (84%) of care recipients were family members. In order to support the efforts of this disproportionately burdened caregiver group, increased social support and healthcare services are needed.

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Acknowledgments

Dr. Angelica P. Herrera was supported with funding from the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (R01MD005894-01; PI: Jacqueline Angel) and the Kellogg Health Scholars Program (P0117943). Drs Angelica Herrera and Carolyn Mendez-Luck were supported by funding from the University of California, Los Angeles, Resource Centers for Minority Aging Research/Center for Health Improvement of Minority Elderly (RCMAR/CHIME) under National Institute on Aging (NIA) Grant P30-AG02-1684. Dr. Mendez-Luck was partly supported by the NIA Grant 1K01AG033122-01A1. Findings do not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institute on Aging or the National Institute of Mental Health. The authors also wish to thank the following individuals for their contributions: Drs. Ron Hays, Honghu Liu, and Kristen Peek for their review and input with the study design and analysis; Laura Ray for help with preparing the data; and Lisette Sanchez and Otila Martinez for assistance with research and manuscript preparation.

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  1. Carolyn A. Mendez-Luck

    Present address: College of Public Health and Human Sciences, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR, USA

  2. Matthew Lee Smith

    Present address: Department of Health Promotion and Behavior, College of Public Health, The University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Community Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Angelica P. Herrera, Carolyn A. Mendez-Luck & Ruth Warre

  2. College of Nursing, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA

    Janice D. Crist

  3. Department of Social and Behavioral Health, School of Rural Public Health, Texas A&M Health Science Center, College Station, TX, USA

    Matthew Lee Smith & Marcia G. Ory

  4. Division of Sociomedical Sciences, Department of Preventive Medicine and Community Health, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX, USA

    Kyriakos Markides

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  1. Angelica P. Herrera
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Correspondence to Angelica P. Herrera.

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Herrera, A.P., Mendez-Luck, C.A., Crist, J.D. et al. Psychosocial and Cognitive Health Differences by Caregiver Status Among Older Mexican Americans. Community Ment Health J 49, 61–72 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10597-012-9494-1

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