Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Thesis Format

Monograph

Degree

Master of Science

Program

Epidemiology and Biostatistics

Supervisor

John-Baptiste, Ava

2nd Supervisor

Alcock, Danielle

3rd Supervisor

Wilk, Piotr

Abstract

Background: Existing research shows that caregiving is associated with several adverse health outcomes. Despite the growing number of caregivers in Canada, little research has been conducted on caregivers' potential unique experiences and outcomes based on their ethnicity. The main objective of this study was to investigate whether ethnicity was associated with a caregiver’s health.

Methods: To address these research gaps, we used data from the 2012 Canadian General Social Survey (GSS) Caregiving and Care Receiving. Focusing on caregivers (n=9,552), we examined the association using three measures of health – self-reported overall health, self-reported mental health, and the Health Utility Index3 (HUI3), a measure of health-related quality of life. We used the logistic regression model and the Tobit regression model and incorporated survey sample weights.

Results: We found that ethnicity was significantly associated with overall health, mental health, and health-related quality of life. Indigenous caregivers had increased odds of poor overall compared to caregivers of Canadian ancestry. Caregivers of all three ethnicities had increased odds of good mental health compared to caregivers of Canadian ancestry. Furthermore, caregivers of all three ethnicities each had a small but significantly better health-related quality of life than caregivers of Canadian ancestry.

Conclusion: Our results highlight that there is an association between ethnicity and caregiver’s health. However, it is important to note that this association differs from one ethnocultural group to another. Therefore, future studies need to understand these differences. Policy solutions to provide financial and social support to caregivers need to account for ethnocultural differences to improve overall health, mental health, and quality of life.

Summary for Lay Audience

The association between ethnicity and caregiver health was measured using self-reported overall health, mental health, and health-related quality of life. Caregiver ethnicity was significantly associated with overall health, mental health, and health-related quality of life. The different ethnocultural groups had different health outcomes. Caregivers of Indigenous ancestry had significantly worse overall health than caregivers of Canadian ancestry. Caregivers of all three ethnicities had significantly better overall health than caregivers of Canadian ancestry. Caregivers of all three ethnicities each had a small but significantly better health-related quality of life than caregivers of Canadian ancestry.

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