A Study on the Care Burden and Service Demand of the Poverty Families Caring for the Demented Elderly

Choi, Yeon Ok

Abstract

The poverty families, who take care of the demented elderly, can suffer from the deficiency of social services for dementia and the condition and nature the families have. Therefore, This study examines the burden of the poverty caring for the demented elderly. This study focused on the three points : the level of care burden of the families, who take care of the demented elderly ; the needs of welfare services ; the differences of care burden and service demand on trait of the families and the demented elderly. In order to achieve them, the 250 families, who take care of the demented elderly at home, were sampled and the primary caregivers of family member interviewed. Then, the statistics of the 226 people were analyzed by SPSSWIN. The major findings of the study were as follows : First, the level of the care burden the families of the demented elderly have, participated in this research, is higher than 'a little yes'. In a type of the care burden, the social & personal restriction is higher than the other types, including physical restriction, economical restriction, and reciprocal restriction. Second, some families had used service and had a low satisfaction, because of no various and adequate services. It shows that the services for the demented elderly and their families is not enough to use, that the services is not various for the families having many problem related the demented elderly. Third, there are many services needed by the families caring for the demented elderly : residential care facilities for the demented elderly ; day care service center ; short-term care services ; family counseling service ; services at home ; nursing services at home ; night care services ; family meeting. Fourth, the most difficult thing of caring is the economic burden of the families. The families are willing to take care of the demented elderly at home, if the government supports economically them and serves proper services to them. Finally, the lower income of the families is, the more time of caring the demented elderly in a day is, the lower vital functions of the demented elderly are, and the lower level of academic achievement, the higher level of care burden of the families is. According to the result, the level of the care burden can be affected by the family's economic capacity, the vital function of the demented elderly, and the existence of service for the demented elderly. For the elderly welfare especially, the demented elderly and their poverty families, three opinions may be suggested. First, the service programs based on community should be developed to reduce the burdens-economic, psychological, medical burden, etc. - of the poverty families caring for the demented elderly. These programs may include preventive service, education programs of dementia, diagnosis services, family counseling, and medical service. Second, the national government and the local government must try to make policies to solve the temporary problems of the family having the demented elderly.