Participation Rates and Perceptions of Caregiving Youth Providing Home Health Care

• Published in: Journal of community health Vol. 41; no. 2; pp. 326 - 333
• Main Authors: Assaf, Raymen Rammy, auf der Springe, Jennifer, Siskowski, Connie, Ludwig, David A., Mathew, M. Sunil, Belkowitz, Julia
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Springer Science + Business Media 01.04.2016; Springer US; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: After School Programs; Beaches; Caregivers; Caregivers - psychology; Child; Community and Environmental Psychology; Counties; Enrollment; Enrollment Rate; Ethics; Families & family life; Family; Family (Sociological Unit); Female; Florida; Grade 6; Health care delivery; Health Promotion and Disease Prevention; Home health care; Home Visits; Humans; Intermediate Grades; Male; Medical Schools; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Mental Disorders; National Surveys; ORIGINAL PAPER; Psychometrics; Public Health; Retrospective Studies; School Districts; Schools; State Surveys; Stress, Psychological - psychology; Students; Teenagers; USA, Florida, Palm Beach Cty; USA; Caregiving youth; Young caregiver; Young carers; Family health; Young caregiving prevalence; Unpaid health care delivery
• DOI: 10.1007/s10900-015-0100-7
• ISSN: 0094-5145

Little is known about the population of caregiving youth in the United States. We sought to describe the participation rates, demographics, and caregiving tasks among sixth graders served by the American Association of Caregiving Youth (AACY) in its Caregiving Youth Project (CYP) in Palm Beach County, FL and evaluate the perceived benefit of AACY services. Sixth grade enrollment data from eight middle schools between 2007 and 2013 were obtained from The School District of Palm Beach County and the AACY. Data were obtained using a retrospective review of AACY program participant files. These files contained responses to evaluative questions from both students and family members. Overall, 2.2 % of sixth graders enrolled and participated in the program. Among the 396 caregiving sixth graders studied, care recipients were predominantly a grandparent (40.6 %) or parent (30.5 %). Common activities included providing company for the care recipient (85.6 %), emotional support (74.5 %), and assistance with mobility (46.7 %). Youth reported a median of 2.5 h caregiving on weekdays and 4 h on weekend days, while families reported fewer hours (1.6 and 2.3, respectively). At the end of the school year, the sixth graders reported improvement in school (85.5 %), caregiving knowledge (88.5 %), and self-esteem (89.5 %). Slightly over 2 % of sixth graders participated in the CYP. While support services may mitigate the negative effects of the time spent by caregiving youth, more prospective research is needed to better define the true prevalence, tasks, and time spent caregiving among this subpopulation.