Turnover in Care Networks of Older Adults: Prevalence, Inequalities, and Consequences

• In Event: Aging and the Life Course Section Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable (90 minute): 4: Family Caregiving

Abstract

Despite a growing literature on mapping out the composition and dynamics of care networks, limited work has been done on unraveling the turnover (i.e., loss or addition) of individual caregivers over time and their implications for the well-being of older adults. This study fills this research gap by leveraging the longitudinal data from the National Health and Aging Trends Study 2011-2019 and examining the turnover in care networks of older adults receiving care for at least two consecutive years in the community. Results suggest that turnover in care networks is prevalent, with more than half of care recipients having ever experienced any turnover in their care networks in a one-year time frame. Women, non-Hispanic Black, and Hispanic older adults are significantly more likely to experience network turnover, even after adjusting for the life course transitions in marital status, employment status, and health status. Older adults who experienced the substitution of caregivers (both losing previous caregivers and adding new caregivers) tend to have more unmet care needs. Understanding these patterns can be helpful for policymakers and practitioners to design effective programs to manage the turnover of caregivers and improve the quality of care received by community-dwelling older adults across different social groups.

Author

• Yongxin Shang, Yale University