Our expert answers 3 Questions
Families and other unpaid helpers serve as the main, and sometimes only, caregivers for older adults in need of care. Even when an older adult receives formal or paid care, they still often receive help from family and other unpaid helpers as well. As the population ages and more older adults need care, this naturally leads to a question about the impact on families and older adults. As a family demographer, I am interested in how a wide range of family forms (e.g., having no partner or children, extended family, or “voluntary/chosen” family) impact the care that older adults receive. Further, I am interested in how particular health issues, like dementia or Alzheimer’s disease, impact the connection between family and unpaid caregivers and the older adult. My current research therefore focuses on families, caregiving, and dementia.
Population trends show increasing diversity and complexity in family structure among older adults. More older adults are kinless (i.e., do not have a partner nor any children) and this population is expected to grow over time. More older adults are getting divorced in later life (i.e., grey divorce), and remarriage increases the likelihood of having stepchildren, another trend projected to increase over time among older adults. Because families are the most likely to provide care for older adults, these changes in their family forms naturally lead to questions about whether care trends will continue to be the same, shift to new forms, or change completely to a system where more formal support (e.g., paid help, government support) will be necessary.
Family and unpaid caregivers are an important part of the healthcare system. Family members and friends may be involved from decision-making and more emotional support to providing direct care and involvement with the medical system. However, given more traditional legal definitions of “family” (e.g., usually reliant on a blood or legal tie), this leaves questions about how older adults with less traditional families may be able to rely on that family within healthcare systems. Understanding who provides care and in what circumstances, as well as the impact on these care patterns when the older adult has dementia, are central to the healthcare they may receive in more formal systems.