Friend Caregivers Among Older Adults

What care do friend caregivers provide, how do they differ from family caregivers, and which older adults receive it?This cross-sectional study included 2619 older adults receiving care from 451 friends and 4985 family members; it found that friends provided fewer hours, were less likely to be sole caregivers, but more often helped with transportation, had specialization in 1 care domain, and shared care. Younger, unmarried, college-educated, and living-alone older adults were more likely to receive friend care.These findings suggest friend caregivers provide specialized, collaborative, transportation-focused support yet remain underrecognized in clinical settings.

Corresponding Author: Yee To Ng, PhD, The Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan, 426 Thompson St, Ann Arbor, MI 48104 (yeetong@umich.edu).

Link to the article in your story

We encourage you to link out to this article in your story using the link below. It includes an access token that will give free access to the article for your readers up to one year after publication. (The link will be live after the article publishes and embargo is lifted.)

Please see the article for additional information, including full author list, author contributions and affiliations, conflict of interest and financial disclosures, and funding and support.

Need more information? Contact us.