BALTIMORE, Jan. 10 (UPI) -- Despite putting in more than 40 hours of care in the last year of life, two-thirds of U.S. family caregivers found their role rewarding, a study found.
Jennifer L. Wolff and colleagues at The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore assessed the dynamics of providing care among 1,149 caregivers who participated in a national survey.
Among the caregivers of adults in the last year of life, 41.5 percent were spouses, 39 percent were children and 19.5 percent were other family members or friends; 75.1 percent of them were female, and they were an average 64 years old. They provided an average of 43 hours of care per week, and 84.4 percent of them provided daily assistance, says the study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine.
Less than 5 percent of caregivers used respite care, while 62 percent reported using assistive devices, 37 percent used personal or nursing care services, and 28 percent used home modifications.
About 70 percent agreed that their role "makes me feel good about myself" and "enables me to appreciate life more," and 76 percent said they felt useful and needed.
