Caring for the chronically ill elderly in Trinidad: the informal situation

This paper comments on research data, from a survey, which sought to determine the health and social circumstances of persons in Trinidad who were providing informal care for the chronically ill elderly during the period, March to August 1998. The research also sought to ascertain the main concerns of the caregivers in their caregiving role. One hundred caregivers in North, Central and South Trinidad were chosen using a convenience sampling method. Caregivers selected had to be at least eighteen years old and residing in their own homes or in the home of the cared. The caregivers ranged in age from 20-89 years. Eighty two percent of the caregivers were females. Wives, daughters and daughters-in-law were the main caregivers. Daughters-in-law were especially instrumental in providing informal care in Indo-Trinidadian households being 28% of caregivers in those households compared to 4% for daughters-in-laws in Afro-Trinidadian households. Fifty percent of the caregivers reported their health to be good. The main health conditions reported by the others were hypertension (14%), diabetes mellitus (9%) and arthritis (18%). The main concern which the caregivers reported was stress (50%). The study revealed that caregiving was perceived by most of these caregivers to be extremely stressful. Daughters, daughters-in-law and wives bore the greatest burden of care and desired greater assistance from family members and friends. The paper makes reference to a government programme which trains young adults to work with the chronically ill elderly, in their own home. It makes a case for the greater use of such young persons in order to relieve relatives of some of the burden of care.