Family caregiving experiences of medical school faculty: high prevalence, high strain, and low resource awareness

Abstract

Abstract Background Adult caregiving can be demanding and stressful, especially when the caregiver is employed. As the age of the U.S. population and workforce increases, more adults are providing care to aging family members. Objective To understand the prevalence and aspects of the caregiving experience and caregiving strain among department of medicine faculty members, and to gauge their awareness and utilization of caregiving resources. Design We used a cross-sectional survey design. A questionnaire survey was developed and launched in Redcap in October, 2022, and an invitation was emailed followed by two reminders to all full-time and part-time faculty members (N = 1053) in our department of medicine. Main measures Faculty demographics, caregiver status, caregiving details, degree of mental or emotional strain, and knowledge of and use of employer and external caregiver resources. Key results Of the 1053 faculty members who received up to three email survey invitations, 209 (20%) responded of which 76 (36%) were current caregivers and 117 (56%) were non-caregivers. Among the 76 current caregivers, 53 (70%) reported providing care for parents or parent-in-laws and 9 (12%) reported caring for a spouse. One-third of current caregivers reported caring for individuals with Alzheimer’s disease or dementia/memory problems. Ninety-five% of current caregivers reported some or a lot of caregiving strain. A wide variation in knowledge of and use of employer and external caregiver resources was reported. Conclusions Department of medicine faculty who provide adult caregiving report a high prevalence of strain and wide variation in knowledge of and use of employer and external caregiver support services, suggesting opportunity to better understand where gaps exist in providing support for caregivers.

Keywords

• Academic medicine
• Caregiving
• Workforce
• Resources
• Employer-benefits