Stress and Service Use Among Minority Caregivers to Elders with Dementia

Abstract Research indicates that minority caregivers use fewer outside social and medical services than white, European-American caregivers. Qualitative research has shown non-caregiving stressors stemming from family and community environments as affecting burden and service use among minority caregivers. Yet few studies of caregiver service use include multiple groups of minority caregivers, or quantitatively evaluate the influence of non-caregiving stress. Using Pearlin, Mullan, Semple and Skaff's (1990) model of caregiver stress, we examined the relationship of ethnicity, non-caregiving stressors, and other stress-associated variables to service use by African-American, Chinese, and Latino caregivers. A group of white, European-American caregivers served as a reference group. Results show ethnicity, non-caregiving stress, and the dementia-affected elder's impairment level to predict unmet service need. The results also point to the usefulness of a new measure of non-caregiving stress in evaluating service use among minority caregivers.