Purpose: To examine the likelihood of independent predictors influencing Non-Hispanic White, African American, and Hispanic caregivers of people with dementia to institutionalize.
Methods: Secondary data from the Resources for Enhancing Alzheimer’s Caregiver’s Health (REACH II) were examined. Likelihood to institutionalize was measured. The sample included 669 Non-Hispanic Whites, African Americans, and Hispanics. Stepwise multivariate logistic regression analyses were conducted to examine the differences in predictors of institutionalization.
Results: Thirty-one percent of caregivers in our sample reported being likely to institutionalize. The likelihood to institutionalize varied by race with Non-Hispanic Whites having the highest rates (38.2%) followed by African Americans (28.1%) and then Hispanics (22.6%). Stepwise multivariate analyses indicated that caregivers ages 21-55 were significantly associated with the likelihood of institutionalizing.
Conclusions: Our findings suggest that deciding to institutionalize a person with dementia is a very complex process that has racial/ethnic and income variation. Support services aimed at helping caregivers to better understand caring for a person with the dementia and the option of institutionalization to this very specific disease may be more successful if it is targeted to specific racial and ethnic groups; as well as, groups who earn less than $50,000.