Association between unmet needs for community services and caregiving strain

This study describes informal caregivers' unmet needs for community services and investigates the association between unmet needs and caregiving strain. The data used in this study were extracted from the Family Caregiving in the U.S. Survey and included 463 caregivers caring for an older adult who received community services. Among these caregivers, over one-third reported that the community services used by the care receivers did not meet their needs. Findings indicated informal caregivers who reported unmet needs were more likely to experience higher levels of emotional strain than those who did not report unmet needs after potential confounding factors were controlled for. However, the relationship between unmet needs and physical strain was marginally significant.