Caregiver Assessment: Information Categories,
Areas to Assess and Possible Questions
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INFORMATION
CATEGORY
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AREAS TO
ASSESS
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POSSIBLE
QUESTIONS
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Context
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Caregiver relationship to care recipient
- Physical environment (home, facility)
- Household status (number in home, etc.)
- Financial status
- Quality of family relationships
- Duration of caregiving
- Employment status (work/home/ volunteer)
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What is the caregiver’s relationship to the care recipient?
- How long has he/she been in the caregiving role?
- Does the care recipient live in the same household with the caregiver?
- Is the caregiver married? Have children? How many people live in the caregiver’s household?
- Are other family members or friends involved in the care?
- Is the caregiver currently employed? Full-time or part-time?
- What is the caregiver’s household income?
- How would the caregiver rate his/her quality of family
- relationships?
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Caregiver’s Perception of Health and Functional Status of Care Recipient
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Activities of daily living (ADLs; bathing, dressing) and need for supervision
- Instrumental Activities of
Daily Living (IADLs; managing
fi nances, using the telephone)
- Psycho-social needs
- Cognitive impairment
- Behavioral problems
- Medical tests and procedures
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Can the care recipient carry out ADLs without assistance (bathing, dressing, etc.)?
- Can the care recipient carry out IADLs without assistance (managing fi nances, shopping)?
- Can the care recipient administer his/her medications correctly?
- Does the care recipient have any mental health diagnoses or emotional problems?
- Does the care recipient have any memory loss or cognitive impairment?
- Does the care recipient have any behavioral problems? How frequently do they occur and
how much do they bother or upset the caregiver when they happen?
- What medical tests and procedures have been done or are needed?
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Caregiver Values and Preferences
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Caregiver/care recipient
willingness to assume/
accept care
- Perceived fi lial obligation to
provide care
- Culturally based norms
- Preferences for scheduling and
delivery of care and services
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Is the caregiver willing to
assume the caregiver role? Is
the care recipient willing to
accept care?
- Does the caregiver feel he/she
is obligated to provide care?
- What types of care
arrangements are considered
culturally acceptable for this
family?
- What are the caregiver’s (and
the care recipient’s) preferences
for the scheduling and delivery
of care and services?
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Well-being of the Caregiver
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Self-rated health
- Health conditions and symptoms
- Depression or other emotional
distress (e.g., anxiety)
- Life satisfaction/quality of life
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How does the caregiver rate
his/her own health? Does the
caregiver rate his/her health
better, about the same, or worse
than it was 6 months ago?
- Does the caregiver have any
health conditions or symptoms?
- How often in the past 6 months
has the caregiver had a medical
exam or received treatment for
physical health problems from
a health care practitioner?
- Depression Scale (See Selected
Measures in Appendix III)
- How often does the caregiver
feel anxious or angry when he/
she is around the care recipient?
- How often does the caregiver
get a full night’s sleep?
- How does the caregiver rate
his/her life satisfaction and/or
quality of life?
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Consequences of Caregiving
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Perceived challenges
- Social isolation
- Work strain
- Emotional and physical
- health strain
- Financial strain
- Family relationship strain
- Diffi culties with formal providers
Perceived benefits
- Satisfaction of helping family member
- Developing new skills and competencies
- Improved family relationships
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Perceived challenges
- Does the caregiver have a social
support network or is he/she
isolated?
- Does the caregiver suffer any
work-related diffi culties due to
the caregiving role?
- Does the caregiver suffer from
any emotional and/or physical
health problems as a result of
caregiving?
- How much does the caregiver’s
health stand in the way of
doing things he/she wants
to do?
- What has been the fi nancial
strain, if any, on the caregiver
due to his/her caregiving role?
- How much disagreement has the caregiver experienced with other family members over particular
care issues?
Perceived benefits
- Does the caregiver feel satisfaction in helping a family member?
- Does the caregiver feel he/ she has developed new skills
and knowledge as a result of caregiving?
- Has there been an improvement in family relationships (general closeness, communication,
similarity of views, degree of getting along) as a result of the caregiving situation?
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Caregiver Skills / Abilities / Knowledge to Provide Care
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- Caregiving confidence and competencies
- Appropriate knowledge of medical care tasks (wound care, etc.)
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- How knowledgeable does the caregiver feel about the care recipient’s condition?
- What are the skills and abilities needed to provide care for the care recipient?
- How would the caregiver rate his/her confidence and competence in these areas?
- Does the caregiver have the appropriate knowledge of medical care tasks (wound care, ability to administer medications correctly, etc.) and transfer techniques (moving from bed to chair, etc.)
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Caregiver Resources
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- Helping network and perceived social support
- Existing or potential strengths (e.g., what is presently going well)
- Coping strategies
- Financial resources (health care and service benefits, entitlements such as Veteran’s Affairs, Medicare)
- Community resources and services (caregiver support programs, religious organizations, volunteer agencies)
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- Can the caregiver rely on his/her social support network for help (i.e. respite)?
- What are the caregiver’s coping strategies? Are these healthy/constructive?
- Has the caregiver accessed all financial benefits and entitlements he/she or care recipient is eligible for (e.g., Veteran’s Affairs)?
- What other community resources/services is the caregiver utilizing or aware of (e.g., caregiver support groups, religious organizations)?
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