Family Caregiving Experiences of Medical School Faculty: High prevalence, high strain, and low resource awareness

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 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=1,053) in our department of medicine. Adjunct, emeritus and faculty with secondary appointments in the department of medicine were excluded. 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 1,053 faculty members who received up to three email survey invitations, 209 (20%) responded of which 76 (36%) were current caregivers, 16 (8%) were recent 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 and recent caregivers reported care for individuals with Alzheimer’s disease or dementia/memory problems. Over 90% of current or recent 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.