Treas, Judith

As a neglected dimension of the quality of care, assessments of caregiver reliability by older adults receiving help contributes to the better understanding of unmet needs for assistance in everyday life. This study examines how the numbers and composition of helpers - both potential and actual - relate to older Americans' reports of the reliability of assistance.

Older people can be important members of immigrant households because they do housework and give emotional support to younger family members. Caregiving is a means of symbolic kin-keeping, reinforcing the meaning of family relationships through native foods, language, and religion. Caring for grown children and their families is demanding business for older people, who are sometimes called on to take on new and unanticipated roles.