Identifying Needs and Support Services for Family Caregivers of Older Community-Based Family Members: Mixed-Method Research Findings
Open accessAbstract
A recent Canadian study conducted in one province identified family caregiver support needs and essential support services when caring for older community-based family members requiring assistance with activities of daily living. Weekly interviews of 150 volunteer caregivers over 6 months identified 11 support needs and 5 essential support services. Scoping literature reviews of the 11 needs found they had all been identified before. Program logic investigations of the 5 support services identified a patch-work of temporarily available support services in existence across the province. Two governmental policies are recommended: (a) provincial policy assuring access to the five support services, and (b) federal policy for federal-provincial funding transfers to address the provincial cost of assured community-based support services. Family caregivers require this support to maintain their own and their family member's well-being, particularly as this caregiving prevents or delays older family member hospitalizations and nursing home entry.
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
Alberta caregivers often lack access to mental health services, respite, and consistent community programs.
“As Donna Wilson and colleagues [22] in their longitudinal study (weekly for six months) of Alberta Caregivers (n = 150) noted, they often lack access to mental health services, respite, and consistent community programs.”
From Home care comparison (2026) · cites this paper as [22]
Research Materials and Methods describes weekly interviews over six months with 150 Alberta caregivers. Results > Essential Support Services identifies respite as essential but reports that only five caregivers used it; the Discussion and Conclusions describe support services as inconsistently available across Alberta. The paper does not identify lack of access to mental health services as a finding of this study. (LLM, conf=0.88)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredMany caregivers face burnout, financial stress, and poor health outcomes.
“Many caregivers face burnout, financial stress, and poor health outcomes.”
From Home care comparison (2026) · cites this paper as [22]
Self-check
Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.
The self-check needs the paper’s full text.
Cites
Munn, Z., Peters, M. D. J., Stern, C., Tufanaru, C., McArthur, A., & Aromataris, E. (2018) · BMC Medical Research Methodology · doi:10.1186/s12874-018-0611-x · Cited by 11,385 · cited 1× · see citing works
“English-language publications of all types of research investigations were sought (Munn et al., 2018).”
Management of frailty: opportunities, challenges, and future directions
Dent, E., Martin, F. C., Bergman, H., Woo, J., Romero‐Ortuño, R., & Walston, J. D. (2019) · The Lancet · doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(19)31785-4 · Cited by 1,722 · see citing works
Family Caregiving for Older Adults
Schulz, R., Beach, S. R., Czaja, S. J., Martire, L. M., & Monin, J. K. (2020) · Annual Review of Psychology · doi:10.1146/annurev-psych-010419-050754 · Cited by 754 · see citing works
Wolff, J. L., Spillman, B. C., Freedman, V. A., & Kasper, J. D. (2016) · JAMA Internal Medicine · doi:10.1001/jamainternmed.2015.7664 · Cited by 585 · see citing works
Gérain, P., & Zech, E. (2019) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2019.01748 · Cited by 342 · see citing works
Disability and Care Needs Among Older Americans
Freedman, V. A., & Spillman, B. C. (2014) · Milbank Quarterly · doi:10.1111/1468-0009.12076 · Cited by 324 · see citing works
Organisation Coopération, Only, E. T., Aiken, L. H., Cheung, R., & Jel Classification, I. (2010) · OECD health working papers · doi:10.1787/18152015 · Cited by 313 · see citing works
Ong, H. L., Vaingankar, J. A., Abdin, E., Sambasivam, R., Fauziana, R., Tan, M., Chong, S. A., Goveas, R. R., Chiam, P. C., & Subramaniam, M. (2018) · BMC Psychiatry · doi:10.1186/s12888-018-1616-z · Cited by 279 · see citing works
International comparisons of the quality and outcomes of integrated care
Barrenho, E., Haywood, P., Kendir, C., & Klazinga, N. S. (2022) · OECD health working papers · doi:10.1787/480cf8a0-en · Cited by 278 · see citing works
Disability Incidence and Functional Decline among Older Adults with Major Chronic Diseases
Fong, J. H. Y. (2019) · BMC Geriatrics · doi:10.1186/s12877-019-1348-z · Cited by 274 · see citing works
Family and Other Unpaid Caregivers and Older Adults with and without Dementia and Disability
Riffin, C., Van Ness, P. H., Wolff, J. L., & Fried, T. (2017) · Journal of the American Geriatrics Society · doi:10.1111/jgs.14910 · Cited by 221 · see citing works
Khandelwal, D., Goel, A., Kumar, U., Gulati, V., Narang, R., & Dey, A. B. (2012) · The journal of nutrition health & aging · doi:10.1007/s12603-012-0369-5 · Cited by 201 · see citing works
Summary health statistics for the U.S. population: National Health Interview Survey, 2012.
Adams, P., Kirzinger, W. K., & Martinez, M. R. (2013) · PubMed · Cited by 189 · see citing works
Family Caregiver Factors Associated with Unmet Needs for Care of Older Adults
Beach, S. R., & Schulz, R. (2016) · Journal of the American Geriatrics Society · doi:10.1111/jgs.14547 · Cited by 173 · see citing works
Lilly, M. B., Robinson, C. A., Holtzman, S., & Bottorff, J. L. (2011) · Health & Social Care in the Community · doi:10.1111/j.1365-2524.2011.01025.x · Cited by 163 · see citing works
Integrating Care to Prevent and Manage Chronic Diseases
OECD (2023) · OECD eBooks · doi:10.1787/9acc1b1d-en · Cited by 152 · see citing works
Mah, J. C., Stevens, S. J., Keefe, J. M., Rockwood, K. J., & Andrew, M. K. (2021) · BMC Geriatrics · doi:10.1186/s12877-021-02069-1 · Cited by 150 · see citing works
Factors Associated With Higher Caregiver Burden Among Family Caregivers of Elderly Cancer Patients
Ge, L., & Mordiffi, S. Z. (2016) · Cancer Nursing · doi:10.1097/ncc.0000000000000445 · Cited by 149 · see citing works
Trzepacz, P. T., & McAllister, T. W. (1991) · Journal of Neuropsychiatry · doi:10.1176/jnp.3.3.346 · Cited by 142 · see citing works
A Review of the Complex Role of Family Caregivers as Health Team Members and Second-Order Patients
Sherman, D. W. (2019) · Healthcare · doi:10.3390/healthcare7020063 · Cited by 136 · see citing works
Population estimates on July 1, by age and gender
Canada, S. (2019) · Statistics Canada Dissemination · doi:10.25318/1710000501-eng · Cited by 136 · see citing works
Hazzan, A. A., Dauenhauer, J. A., Follansbee, P., Hazzan, J. O., Allen, K., & Omobepade, I. (2022) · BMC Geriatrics · doi:10.1186/s12877-022-02787-0 · Cited by 133 · see citing works
Community-Based Supports and Services for Older Adults: A Primer for Clinicians
Siegler, E. L., Lama, S. D., Knight, M. G., Laureano, E., & Reid, M. C. (2015) · Journal of Geriatrics · doi:10.1155/2015/678625 · Cited by 107 · see citing works
Treml, J., Schmidt, V., Nagl, M., & Kersting, A. (2021) · Social Science & Medicine · doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2021.114240 · Cited by 100 · see citing works
Ringer, T. J., Hazzan, A. A., Agarwal, A., Mutsaers, A., & Παπαϊωάννου, Α. (2017) · Systematic Reviews · doi:10.1186/s13643-017-0447-1 · Cited by 88 · see citing works
Gibbons, S. W., Ross, A. C., & Bevans, M. F. (2014) · Research in Nursing & Health · doi:10.1002/nur.21622 · Cited by 72 · see citing works
Caregiver anticipatory grief: phenomenology, assessment and clinical interventions
Coelho, A., de Brito, M. F., & Barbosa, A. (2017) · Current Opinion in Supportive and Palliative Care · doi:10.1097/spc.0000000000000321 · Cited by 63 · see citing works
Factors associated with family caregiver burden among frail older persons with multimorbidity
Ding, T. Y. G., Roza, J. G. D., Chan, C. Y., Lee, S., Ong, S. K., Lew, J. K., Koh, H. L., & Lee, E. S. (2022) · BMC Geriatrics · doi:10.1186/s12877-022-02858-2 · Cited by 59 · see citing works
Lin, C., Shih, P.-Y., & Ku, L. E. (2018) · Archives of Gerontology and Geriatrics · doi:10.1016/j.archger.2018.11.009 · Cited by 58 · see citing works
Gitlin, L. N., & Wolff, J. (2011) · Annual Review of Gerontology and Geriatrics · doi:10.1891/0198-8794.31.31 · Cited by 55 · see citing works
Understanding How to Support Family Caregivers of Seniors with Complex Needs
Charles, L. A., Brémault‐Phillips, S., Parmar, J., et al. (2017) · Canadian Geriatrics Journal · doi:10.5770/cgj.20.252 · Cited by 53 · see citing works
Roberts, E. R., & Struckmeyer, K. M. (2018) · INQUIRY The Journal of Health Care Organization Provision and Financing · doi:10.1177/0046958017751507 · Cited by 53 · see citing works
Aung, T. N. N., Aung, M. N., Moolphate, S., et al. (2021) · International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health · doi:10.3390/ijerph18115873 · Cited by 53 · see citing works
Transitions to long-term and residential care among older Canadians.
Garner, R., Tanuseputro, P., Manuel, D. G., & Sanmartin, C. (2018) · PubMed · Cited by 46 · see citing works
Li, C., Tang, N., Yang, L., Zeng, Q., Yu, T., Pu, X., Wang, J., & Zhang, H. (2023) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2022.1020517 · Cited by 42 · see citing works
Lohrasbi, F., Alavi, M., Akbari, M., & Maghsoudi, J. (2023) · Chonnam Medical Journal · doi:10.4068/cmj.2023.59.1.31 · Cited by 42 · see citing works
Chan, C. Y., Roza, J. G. D., Ding, G. T. Y., Koh, H. L., & Lee, E. S. (2023) · BMC Family Practice · doi:10.1186/s12875-023-01985-y · Cited by 39 · see citing works
Dehpour, T., & Koffman, J. (2022) · Aging & Mental Health · doi:10.1080/13607863.2022.2032599 · Cited by 38 · see citing works
Research Priorities in Geriatric Palliative Care: Informal Caregiving
Schulz, R. (2013) · Journal of Palliative Medicine · doi:10.1089/jpm.2013.9483 · Cited by 36 · see citing works
Shi, X., Wang, S., Wang, Z., & Fan, F. (2021) · BMC Psychiatry · doi:10.1186/s12888-021-03153-x · Cited by 36 · see citing works
What Can Be Done To Better Support Older Adults To Age Successfully In Their Homes And Communities?
Herbert, C. E., & Molinsky, J. (2019) · Health Affairs · doi:10.1377/hlthaff.2019.00203 · Cited by 31 · see citing works
Teixeira, M. J. C., Abreu, W., Costa, N., & Maddocks, M. M. (2020) · BMC Palliative Care · doi:10.1186/s12904-020-00583-4 · Cited by 31 · see citing works
Bilić, J., Skokandić, L., & Puljak, L. (2022) · BMC Palliative Care · doi:10.1186/s12904-022-01093-1 · Cited by 29 · see citing works
Prevo, L., Hajema, K., Linssen, E., Kremers, S., Crutzen, R., & Schneider, F. (2018) · INQUIRY The Journal of Health Care Organization Provision and Financing · doi:10.1177/0046958018775570 · Cited by 26 · see citing works
Compton, R. M., Owilli, A. O., Caine, V., Berendonk, C., Jouan-Tapp, D., Sommerfeldt, S., McPhee, D., & Walz, D. (2019) · Canadian Journal on Aging / La Revue canadienne du vieillissement · doi:10.1017/s0714980819000461 · Cited by 24 · see citing works
Prevalence and risk factors of burden among caregivers of older emergency department patients
Zaalberg, T., Barten, D. G., Heugten, C. M. V., Klijnsma, P., Knarren, L. H. H., Hiemstra, Y., Kurvers, R. A. J., Lekx, A. W., Mooijaart, S. P., & Janssen-Heijnen, M. L. G. (2023) · Scientific Reports · doi:10.1038/s41598-023-31750-1 · Cited by 23 · see citing works
Campbell‐Enns, H. J., Bornstein, S., Hutchings, V. M. M., Janzen, M., Kampen, M., O’Brien, K., Rieger, K. L., Stewart, T. L., Zendel, B. R., & Doupe, M. B. (2023) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0286548 · Cited by 21 · see citing works
Kinematic analysis of activities of daily living performance in frail elderly
Schmidle, S., Gulde, P., Herdegen, S., Böhme, G.-E., & Hermsdörfer, J. (2022) · BMC Geriatrics · doi:10.1186/s12877-022-02902-1 · Cited by 20 · see citing works
Habtamu, Y., Admasu, K., Tullu, M., & Kebede, A. (2022) · BMC Psychiatry · doi:10.1186/s12888-022-03783-9 · Cited by 17 · see citing works
Is the bereavement grief intensity of survivors linked with their perception of death quality?
Wilson, D. M., Cohen, J., Eliason, C., Deliëns, L., MacLeod, R., Hewitt, J., & Houttekier, D. (2019) · International Journal of Palliative Nursing · doi:10.12968/ijpn.2019.25.8.398 · Cited by 14 · see citing works
Self-citationCaregivers Help-Seeking Related to Physical and Mental Burden.
Mento, C., Rizzo, A., & Settineri, S. (2019) · PubMed Central · Cited by 13 · see citing works
Darabos, K., & Faust, H. L. (2023) · Psychology Health & Medicine · doi:10.1080/13548506.2023.2195671 · Cited by 12 · see citing works
The impact of biological frailty syndrome on quality of life of nursing home residents
Parra, M. D. S., Garrido, M., Chacón, R. M. F., Saiz, M. J. S., & Valentín, M. J. D. (2017) · Applied Nursing Research · doi:10.1016/j.apnr.2017.02.025 · Cited by 11 · see citing works
Hall, S., & Holtslander, L. F. (2022) · Canadian Geriatrics Journal · doi:10.5770/cgj.25.604 · Cited by 11 · see citing works
Unpaid Caregiver Costs in Canada: A Systematic Review
Marani, H., & Peckham, A. (2023) · Home Health Care Management & Practice · doi:10.1177/10848223231169504 · Cited by 11 · see citing works
Will to Live in Older Nursing Home Residents: A Cross-Sectional Study in Switzerland
Bornet, M.-A., Truchard, E. R., Bernard, M., Pasquier, J., Borasio, G. D., & Jox, R. J. (2021) · Journal of Pain and Symptom Management · doi:10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2021.05.006 · Cited by 10 · see citing works
Effectiveness of a multi-modal hospital-wide doctor mental health and wellness intervention
Petrie, K., Stanton, K., Gill, A., Simmons, J., & Harvey, S. B. (2022) · BMC Psychiatry · doi:10.1186/s12888-022-03908-0 · Cited by 9 · see citing works
Care-Related Out-of-Pocket Expenditures in Canada
Duncan, K. A., Shooshtari, S., Roger, K. S., et al. (2016) · Journal of Financial Counseling and Planning · doi:10.1891/1052-3073.27.2.277 · Cited by 7 · see citing works
Tamura, M., Ishikawa, T., Matsumoto, K., et al. (2023) · BMC Public Health · doi:10.1186/s12889-022-14671-y · Cited by 4 · see citing works
Sunzi, K., Li, Y., Cheng, L., & Zhou, X. (2023) · BMJ Open · doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2022-067223 · Cited by 4 · see citing works
Hospital utilization by older and younger patients in Canada: pre-pandemic findings
Wilson, D. M., Zhou, Y., Bolaji-Osagie, S., Bryenton, F. M., Dou, Q., & Low, G. (2024) · Journal of Public Health Policy · doi:10.1057/s41271-024-00520-2 · Cited by 4 · see citing works
Self-citationMarani, H., & Allin, S. M. (2022) · Journal of Applied Gerontology · doi:10.1177/07334648221099279 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Factors Associated with Family Caregiver Burden Among Frail Older Persons With MultimorbidityPreprint
Ding, T. Y. G., Roza, J. G. D., Chan, C. Y., et al. (2021) · Research Square · doi:10.21203/rs.3.rs-957319/v1 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
As Canada’s population ages, seniors need better access to public transit
Ravensbergen, L. (2020) · doi:10.64628/aam.shwue4hr9 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Flagged first, then by citations
Research works printed but not linked: 4
- Alberta Department of Health. (2021). Improving quality of life for residents in facility-based continuing care: Alberta facility-Based continuing care review recommendations final report - April 30, 2021. Alberta Department of Health. Available at: https://open.alberta.ca/dataset/f680d1a6-bee5-4862-8ea4-e78d98b7965d/resource/22092c9c-99bb-4fee-9929-7ce06e71bbd1/download/health-improving-quality-life-residents-facility-based-continuing-care-2021-04-30.pdf
- Mather M. Jacobsen L. A. Pollard K. M. (2015). Aging in the United States. Population reference Bureau. Population Bulletin. Available at: https://prb.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/aging-us-population-bulletin-1.pdf
- National Institute on Ageing. (2020). An evidence informed national seniors strategy for Canada - third edition. Available at: https://nationalseniorsstrategy.ca/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/NSS
- Sinha S. K. Griffin B. Ringer T. Reppas-Rindlisbacher C. Stewart E. Wong I. Callan S. Anderson G. (2016). An evidence-informed national seniors strategy for Canada. Alliance for a National Seniors Strategy. Available at: https://nationalseniorsstrategy.ca/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/National-Seniors-Strategy-Second-Edition.pdf
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Alberta, G. O., Mitchell, E. A., Services, A. H., Slaughter, E. A., Cruz, E. A., Haunch, E. A., Awosoga, E. A., & Parmar, E. A. (2026) · doi:10.3390/ijerph23010137 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
- Authors
- Wilson, D. M., Heron, J., & Banamwana, G.
- Affiliations
- University of Alberta (CA)
- Corresponding author
- Wilson, Donna M.
- Venue
- Journal of Applied Gerontology
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2025-01-09
- Volume
- 44
- Issue
- 9
- Pages
- 1424-1434
- ISSN
- 0733-4648 (ISSN-L)
- 1552-4523
- PMC
- PMC12335626
- OpenAlex
- W4406217469
- Cited by
- 5
- References
- 64
- Citations by year
- 2026: 4 · 2025: 1
- FWCI
- 7.41
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Journal of Applied Gerontology (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- Government of Alberta (RES3471973)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › Pharmacy › Nursing care and research
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Intergenerational Family Dynamics and Caregiving
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Aging, Elder Care, and Social Issues
- Keywords
- family caregivers, caregiver support needs, support services, older adults, community-based care, activities of daily living, volunteer caregivers, caregiver well-being, provincial policy, hospitalization prevention
- MeSH terms
- Activities of Daily Living, Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Canada, Family, Female, Health Services Needs and Demand, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Social Support, Caregivers, Needs Assessment
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
