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Pathways to a Caregiver Identity and Implications for Support Services

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Caregiving Across the Lifespan

Part of the book series: Caregiving: Research • Practice • Policy ((CARE))

Abstract

Caregiving at the end of the life cycle is now widely recognized as a normal role in later life for most women and many men. The caregiving role, however, is not uniformly embraced by all potential caregivers, nor is it experienced in the same manner by those who assume the role. Indeed, a large number of studies conducted over the two past decades have documented differential impacts of caregiving on caregivers’ lives (Anhensel, Pearlin, Mulan, Zarit, & Whitlach, 1995; Farran, Miller, Kaufman, & Davis, 1997). Despite early questions about the utility of research on caregiving and its corresponding costs (Zarit, 1989), the experience of caregiving has been designated by The National Institute on Aging as one of the top priorities for social and behavioral research. Caregiving has also moved on to center stage in the policy arena. Where in the past, the presence of a family caregiver was often the basis for denial of public services, the introduction of the National Family Caregiver Support Program (NFCSP) as Title III-E of the Older American’s Act in 2000 legitimized family caregivers as a group with needs deserving of assistance. Since the initial implementation of the NFCSP in 2000, there has been an explosion of newly developed family support programs at both the state and local levels.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Helen Bader Endowed Chair in Applied Gerontology, Helen Bader School of Social Welfare, University of Wisconsin Milwaukee, 786, Milwaukee, WI, 53201-0786, USA

    Rhonda J. V. Montgomery Ph.D.

  2. Gerontology Department, University of Nebraska at Omaha, Omaha, NE, 68182, USA

    Karl D. Kosloski Ph.D.

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  1. Rhonda J. V. Montgomery Ph.D.
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Correspondence to Rhonda J. V. Montgomery Ph.D. .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Western Kentucky University, College Heights Boulevard 1906, Bowling Green, 42101, Kentucky, USA

    Ronda C. Talley

  2. , Dept. Social Work, University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, East Hartford Avenue 2400, Milwaukee, 53211, Wisconsin, USA

    Rhonda J.V. Montgomery

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Montgomery, R.J.V., Kosloski, K.D. (2013). Pathways to a Caregiver Identity and Implications for Support Services. In: Talley, R., Montgomery, R. (eds) Caregiving Across the Lifespan. Caregiving: Research • Practice • Policy. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-5553-0_8

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