PREPARATION FOR CAREGIVING - A STUDY OF MULTIGENERATION FAMILIES

The impact of providing care to the frail elderly on individual caregi vers and their families has been discussed at length, but few research ers have investigated the events and circumstances preceding the onset of caregiving. In addition, although there is evidence that several f amily members are usually involved in planning and decision making abo ut caregiving, the majority of studies in this area include only one g eneration. Based on a larger theoretical framework of preparation for caregiving [1, 2], the extent to which family members anticipate and p lan for future caregiving is investigated. In addition, the extent to which they are satisfied with these preparations is studied. Interview s were conducted with mothers, daughters, and granddaughters in thirty -three multigeneration families. While substantial numbers of both mot hers and daughters anticipated the need for care for the oldest genera tion, few made concrete plans about how to organize future care provis ion. Planners were more satisfied with the amount of discussion and pl anning in their family than non-planners. implications for future rese arch and practice applications are discussed.