Factors associated with receipt of caregiver training among family and unpaid caregivers of people living with dementia

Background

To investigate factors associated with the receipt of caregiver training among informal caregivers for people living with dementia in the community.

Methods

Using three waves of the National Health and Aging Trends Study and the National Study of Caregiving data (2015, 2017, and 2021), the sample included 2606 family/unpaid caregivers who provided care assistance to community-dwelling older adults living with dementia. We conducted a multivariate logistic regression analysis with sampling weights to examine the factors associated with the receipt of training among caregivers for people living with dementia.

Results

Findings indicated that 8.3 % of the caregivers received caregiver training. Non-Hispanic Black (odds ratio [OR], 2.02; 95 % confidence interval [CI]: 1.30–3.15) and caregivers of other races (OR, 2.94; 95 % CI: 1.57–5.49) were more likely to receive training than non-Hispanic White caregivers. Spouse of care recipient (OR, 3.11; 95 % CI: 1.32–7.30), Medicaid-enrolled caregivers (OR, 2.52; 95 % CI: 1.44–4.41), caregivers who worked in the past week (OR, 2.12; 95 % CI: 1.21–3.70), and caregivers for those who needed assistance for multiple self-care or mobility tasks (OR, 2.22; 95 % CI: 1.24–4.00) were more likely to receive caregiver training than their respective counterparts.

Conclusions

Given the challenges of dementia caregiving and the potential beneficial effect of training, it is imperative for policy makers to promote both overall uptake rate of caregiver training and the rate among high-risk subgroups, to relieve caregiver burden and improve outcomes of both caregivers and care recipients.