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Sex and Gender-Based Analysis of Family Caregivers of Older Adults with Multiple Chronic Conditions at McMaster Aging, Community, and Health Research Unit

STREAM 2: Intersectionality Analysis for CEs

Social location refers to the multiple roles occupied by individuals at any given time, as influenced by sex, gender, age, education, income, employment status, culture, geography, social connectedness, and other determinants. We have yet to fully understand the influence of all these determinants on caregiver-employee (CE) health. Maintaining caregiver health is critical, yet we know little about how to sustain the health of caregivers.

The purpose of this study is to enhance our understanding of the experiences of family caregivers, and caregiver-employees (CEs) in particular, who are providing care to older adults with multiple chronic conditions. The goal of this research is to suggest how the health of caregivers can be improved and maintained. The research questions include: (1) How does social location of family caregivers of older adults with multiple chronic conditions (MCC) (specifically dementia, diabetes or stroke in combination with other MCC) impact quality of life and health outcomes over time? (2) What are the similarities and differences in findings across two provinces, Alberta and Ontario?

This research project has been funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), through a grant titled “Innovative Community-Based Approaches to Promote Optimal Aging for Older Adults with Multiple Chronic Conditions and their Caregivers”(TTF 128261 ) (2013-2018). We are working collaboratively on this project with the McMaster Aging, Community and Health Research Unit.

Project Documents

Expandable List

M. Giesbrecht, A. Williams,W. Duggleby, J. Ploeg, M. Markle-Reid.  2016.  “Exploring the Daily Geographies of Diverse Men Caregiving for Family Members with Multiple Chronic Conditions”.  Gender, Place and Culture. 23(11), 1586-1598. Click here to access full article.

A Williams, B. Sethi, W. Duggleby, J. Ploeg, M. Markle-Reid, S. Peacock, S. Ghosh.  2016. “A Canadian Qualitative Study Exploring the Diversity of the Experience of Family Caregivers of Older Adults with Multiple Chronic Conditions Using a Social Location Perspective”. International Journal for Equity in Health 15(40).  doi:  10.1186/s12939-016-0328-6. Click here to access full article. 

W. Duggleby, A. Williams, S. Ghosh, H. Moquin, J. Pleog, M. Markle-Reid, S. Peacock. 2016.  “Factors Influencing Changes in Health Related Quality of Life of Caregivers of Persons with Multiple Chronic Conditions”. Health and Quality of Life Outcomes.  14(81) doi: 10.1186/s12955-016-0486-7. Click here to access full article. 

A. Williams, L. Wang, W. Duggleby, M. Markle-Reid, & J. Ploeg. 2017. “Gender and Sex Differences in Carers’ Health, Burden and Work Outcomes: Canadian Carers of Community-Dwelling Older People with Multiple Chronic Conditions”. International Journal of Care and Caring, 1(3) 331-349(19). Click here to access full article.

A. Williams, W. Duggleby, J. Ploeg, M. Markle-Reid, H. Moquin, & J. Yang. 2017. “Overcoming Recruitment Challenges for Securing a Survey Sample of Caregivers of Community-Dwelling Older Adults With Multiple Chronic Conditions”. Journal of Human Health Research, 1(1), 16-24. https://doi.org/10.14302/issn.2576-9383.jhhr-17-1787. Click here to access full article.

M. Giesbrecht, A. Williams, W. Duggleby, B. Sethi, J. Ploeg, & M. Markle-Reid. 2017. “Feelings of Distance and Proximity: Exploring the Emotional Geographies of Men Caregiving for Family Members With Multiple Chronic Conditions”. Social & Cultural Geography, 20(1), 107-127. doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/14649365.2017.1347957. Click here to access full article.

Peacock, S., Sethi, B., Williams, A.,  Duggleby, W., Bayly, M., Swindle, J., Ploeg, J. & Markle-Reid, M. (2017).  Older adult spouses with multiple chronic conditions: challenges, rewards, and coping strategies, Canadian Journal on Aging, 1-14, doi:10.1017/S0714980817000095. Click here to access full article.

A Williams. 2016. “Employed Caregivers of Older Adults with Multiple Chronic Conditions: Relationships between Work Interferences and Health Outcomes.” American Association of Geographers Annual Meeting, March 29 2016, San Francisco, California.

A. Williams, J. Ploeg, M. Markle Reid, S. Ghosh, W. Duggleby, M. Choi. 2015. “Employment of Caregivers of Older Persons with Multiple Chronic Conditions: The Spatiality and Impact of Work Interferences” International Medical Geography Symposium, Vancouver, BC. July 7 2015.

J. Swindle, W. Duggleby, A. Williams, S. Ghosh, S. Peacock. “Factors influencing self-efficacy in caregivers of persons with multiple chronic conditions”. CAG 2015, From Possibility to Practice in Aging: Shaping a Future for All. October 23-25 2015.

W. Duggleby, A. Williams, J. Ploeg, M. Markle-Reid, S. Ghosh, S. Peacock. “Using research findings to develop and design interventions for family caregivers of persons with multiple chronic conditions”. CAG 2015, From Possibility to Practice in Aging: Shaping a Future for All. October 23-25 2015.

B. Sethi, S. Peacock, A. Williams, W. Duggleby. “‘I feel almost like an untamed horse being put in a bridle’: The experience of informal caregiving for older persons with multiple chronic conditions”. CAG 2015, From Possibility to Practice in Aging: Shaping a Future for All. October 23-25 2015.

Sethi, B., Williams, A., Peacock, S. & Duggleby, W. (2016). The experience of informal caregiving for older persons with multiple chronic conditions. Canadian Association for Research on Work and Health (CRW) 2016, titled: ‘CARWH 2016: Advancing Research to Improve Work and Health’, Toronto, Ontario, October 16-18, 2016.

A. Williams, J. Ploeg, M. Markle-Reid, S. Ghosh, W. Duggleby, M. Choi. “Intersectionality analysis of caregivers of older persons with multiple chronic conditions”. CAG 2015, From Possibility to Practice in Aging: Shaping a Future for All. October 23-25 2015.

M. Choi, A. Williams. 2015. “Employment of caregivers of older persons with multiple chronic conditions”. Vanier Institute of the Family, Families in Canada Conference 2015. June 10-11 2015.

A. Williams, J. Yang, W. Duggleby, H. Moquin. 2014. “Caregiver burden of caregivers of older persons with multiple chronic conditions”. 43rd Annual Scientific and Educational Meeting: Canadian Association on Gerontology. Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada.

A. Williams, W. Duggleby, J. Yang, H. Moquin. 2014. “Employment of caregivers of older persons with multiple chronic conditions.” 43rd Annual Scientific and Educational Meeting: Canadian Association on Gerontology. Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada.

W. Duggleby, H. Moquin, A. Williams, J. Yang. 2014. “Quality of life of caregivers of older persons with multiple chronic conditions”. 43rd Annual Scientific and Educational Meeting: Canadian Association on Gerontology. Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada.

Check out this video, featuring Allison Williams and Wendy Duggleby, on Caregiver roles, burdens and support.