Rehabilitation and Therapy Commons^™

The Relationship Between Acculturation And The Effects Of Caregiving Of The Elderly Among Cuban-Americans, Georgia De Las Pozas

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to establish the perceived caregiving effects among thirty Cuban-born individuals caring for elderly relatives and the relationship of these effects with acculturation.

Most common difficulties were lack of private time, or social life, and decreased emotional and physical health. Satisfactions were mostly derived from fostering the elders' welfare. A strong positive relationship was found between caregivers' difficulties and stability of the caregiving dyad (r= - 0.642, p< .001). Caregivers involved in more unstable caregiver-care receiver dyads had more stress associated with caregiving difficulties. The acculturation factors of language, electronic media, and social relations, and the stability of the caregiving dyad accounted for 54 percent of the variation in caregivers' difficulties (p< .001) but only 21 percent of the variation of caregivers' satisfaction (p<.221).

These findings provided preliminary data of caregiving characteristics among Cuban-Americans and the importance of including acculturation in studies involving minorities.