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Geographic distance and social isolation among family care-givers providing care to older adults in Canada

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 May 2021

Lun Li Open the ORCID record for Lun Li [Opens in a new window]  and
Andrew Wister
Lun Li*
Affiliation:
Gerontology Research Centre, Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, Canada
Andrew Wister
Affiliation:
Department of Gerontology, Gerontology Research Centre, Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, Canada
*
*Corresponding author. Email: lun_li_2@sfu.ca
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Abstract

Family care-giving is associated with social isolation, which can lead to adverse health and wellbeing outcomes among family care-givers. The role of geographic distance in care-giver social isolation (CSI) is unclear and has received mixed research findings. Framed by the Ecological Model of Caregiver Isolation, this study examined the relationship between geographic distance and CSI, including the interaction between geographic distance and care-giving intensity for CSI. Linear regression and analysis of covariance were used to test these hypotheses using a sub-set of family care-givers from the 2012 Canadian General Social Survey (N = 2,881). Care-givers living a short distance from receivers reported lower levels of social isolation than co-resident, moderate-distance and long-distance care-givers. Being involved in higher-intensity care-giving as the primary care-giver, undertaking more care-giving tasks and providing care more frequently resulted in higher CSI scores. Long- and moderate-distance care-givers reported greater CSI than co-resident and short-distance care-givers only when providing higher-intensity care-giving. Employing a granulated measure of geographic distance positioned within an ecological framework facilitates an understanding of the nuanced association between geographic proximity and CSI. Furthermore, the identified interaction effects between geographic distance and care-giving intensity on CSI further explicate the complexity of care-giving experiences. The findings are relevant for programmes supporting care-givers in different contexts, especially distance care-givers.

Keywords

ageingfamily care-givinggeographic proximitysocial isolation
Type
Article
Information
Ageing & Society , Volume 43 , Issue 2 , February 2023 , pp. 298 - 323
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press

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