Challenges Facing Caregivers of the Elderly

This article discusses the challenges faced by caregivers of the elderly in Australia. It covers both quantitative and qualitative research on the topic. The article highlights the burden of informal caregiving on the mental and general wellbeing of caregivers. It also discusses the challenges posed by demographic changes, employment status, and financial loss. The article concludes that qualitative research questions will result in subjective findings while quantitative research questions will often yield facts.

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THE CHALLENGES CAREGIVERS FACE IN THE CARE OF THE ELDERLY IN
AUSTRALIA
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The Challenges Caregivers Face in the care of the Elderly in Australia
Introduction
There are many issues which afflict the elderly population. They are often in danger of
loss of capacity due to disease and adverse economic and psychological problems (McPake
Mahal 2017).Violet is no exception since she is suffering from type 2 diabetes and osteoarthritis.
She also has a lower leg ulcer which makes her case even more complicated since her mobility is
constrained. Apart from needing medical help she, therefore, also requires assistance in carrying
out her daily activities. The help she requires is both physical and financial, therefore, putting a
strain on her caretakers. The household income may not be adequate since her son in law lost his
job and her daughter who she relies on completely is strapped for time having to work a full time
job and care for her family as well. Taking care of the elderly, therefore, has a significant effect
on the mental and general wellbeing of their care takers.
Quantitative Research
Quantitative research questions are used to gain an insight of the respondent’s view on a
particular research question. The questions are used to gather numerical data in order to generate
statistical results. Survey research allows for the collection of data on a given sample population.
Questionnaires or numerically rated items can be used to collect data in quantitative research
(Ponto 2015). There are three types of questions that may arise here; first are descriptive survey
questions which seek to gain information which will connect a variable to a certain quantity .
Second are comparative survey questions which seek to compare two or more groups in
accordance to one or more variables . Third are the relationship survey questions which are used
to establish the relationship or association of two or more variables (Apuke 2017). A suitable

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quantitative question related to the clinical issue would be: What is the number of elderly in need
of informal caregiving while transitioning to residential care?
A search strategy was developed in order to identify publications containing information
on the number of elderly Australians who are living with relatives while awaiting the
commencement on their stay in residential care facilities. The search was conducted in electronic
reference databases with the consultation of a librarian. The databases include: CINAHL,
PUBMED and Medline. A restriction on years was made as of 2012 in order to get current and
relevant data. A combination of key words with medical subject headings including; older age
people and, number living with family caregivers was used. The word ‘number’ was included in
the key word in order to ensure that the searches that come up have quantities and are not just
descriptive. Transition to residential care was also included in order to filter out those that are
fully in preference of home based care. The three databases yielded 1117 results. Duplicates
were removed and the remaining articles had their titles and abstracts screened in order to
identify eligible articles. Four Studies were then chosen for literature review.
Literature Review
There has been a worldwide increase in the number of the elderly population that need
support and care from the rest o the population all over the world. The numbers have been
projected to rise even higher in coming years. A study done predicted that by 2050 the elderly
will make up 22% of the population. Canadian studies show that 92.1% of the elderly population
of about 5 million live in private dwellings while a mere 7.9% lived in collective dwellings such
as residential care homes (Merla et al 2018). A majority of them are in transition and rely on
informal caregiving from their relatives. In Australia the percentage of elderly people as a

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percentage of the population has increased from 0.6% in 1978 to 2% in 2018 (Common wealth
of Australia 2019). This means that there is an increasing number of elderly Australians who
need access to caregiving services. The exact percentage of Australians above the age of 65 is
projected to increase from 15% in 2015 to 21% mid-century (Jukic and Temple 2018). Most will
receive informal care at home before venturing out to the residential care system. This care is
given mostly by their relatives. A study of the Australian population conducted by the
Australian government indicates that informal care does not end with entry into residential care
homes (Common Wealth of Australia 2019). The informal caregivers will often need to make
adjustments in order to ensure that their loved one is cared for properly in a residential care
community. This may be in terms of finances, treatment decisions and so forth (Temple, Jukic
and Dow 2017).The burden is, however, larger for the informal care givers while at home and
during the transitional period to residential care.
Qualitative Research
Qualitative research seeks to explore a given phenomenon. The questions will often start
with ‘what’ or ‘how’. The main purpose of qualitative research questions is to allow the
respondent give in detail their experience on a given phenomenon. Open ended questions will
often provide a better opportunity for qualitative research. A good qualitative research ought to
lay bare the specifics of what the investigator seeks to find out about the intentions and
perspectives of his audience. This will cancel out any ambiguities that could arise as a result of
biasness and so forth (Agee 2009). A good research question should, therefore, be open ended as
aforementioned and easy to understand without further clarifications. It should also be able to
discover problems and opportunities from respondents. An appropriate research question for the

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case study could therefore be: How are informal caregivers affected by the transition of the
elderly into residential home care system?
Electronic databases were used to conduct a search on relevant secondary data that would
answer the quantitative research questions. CINAHL, PUBMED AND Medline were once again
used in consultation with a librarian. The key words included: effect, transition, informal care
and elderly. A number of search terms were used in an effort to get relevant information. They
include: effect on informal caregivers and transition into residential care system. The terms were
used in order to differentiate desired articles with those about the challenges faced by informal
caregivers when the elderly individual and/ or their family prefers them living at home and not in
organize communities of care. A total of 19,276 articles were yielded from the search. Those
from recent year, specifically 2009 onwards, were spared with the removal of older articles. The
removal of older articles was to ensure that the information retrieved is current and thus relevant
to the present situation in the country. Studies that were not from Australia were eliminated this
time since the study is of the Australian population and the results should, therefore, yield their
experiences and situation. After this, duplicates were removed and titles and abstracts screened
for relevance. A total of 48 results remained and five were chosen for literature review. These
articles contained varied information on the challenges faced by informal caregivers in rural area,
urban area, those taking care of sickly elderly population and so forth; this provided a wider view
on the situation on the ground.
Literature Review
Over the years, a number of challenges have arisen as a result of changes in demography
and in the number of elderly people needing care. The elderly will often stay with family as they

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wait joining a residential care community. Most elderly individuals in Australia might prefer
being cared for by their children (McCann, Bamberg and McCann 2015) . There are, however,
factors that may pose challenges such as: demographic changes including increase in the number
of working women, an increase in the number of single parent households and so forth (Hussein,
Wark & Ryan 2018). The spouse and economic/ employment status may also pose challenges in
caring for the elderly. In the case of employment, the time used up in caring for the elderly will
often compete with that which ought to be used for work thereby reducing productivity (Bauer
2015). Caregivers in Australia have reported to facing isolation and emotional burdens. A study
carried out in 2012 shows that more than 409% of informal caregivers felt a need for mental
health support. Informal caregivers may also face financial loss and also experience a disruption
in family routines. Their quality of life is thus hugely impaired (Morrison & Stomski 2019). A
sample of informal caregivers completed a questionnaire in a study that was geared at self-
assessing their mental situation. The results indicated that the caregivers suffered a poorer mental
state compared to the general Australian population. This is especially so in regards to
depression and psychological distress (Hussein, Wark, Dillon & Ryan, 2016).
Conclusion
. The results from the quantitative and qualitative research questions differ in some ways.
Most prominent distinction is the fact that the quantitative research questions yielded figurative
results. That is, the findings gave percentages, numbers and so forth. The qualitative research on
the other hand yielded descriptive findings. The findings included people’s opinions, description
of the situation at hand and so forth. It is, therefore. Clear that qualitative research questions will
result into findings that are subjective of the population under study while quantitative research
questions will often yield facts. With qualitative research, you may get difference answers for

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similar questions depending on the individuals under study. It is thus subjective as
aforementioned while quantitative research questions will lead to objective findings.

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