Family caregivers and health promotion. Pilot study to validate a German assessment to survey resources and risks of elderly family caregivers (ARR)

• Published in: Zeitschrift für Gerontologie und Geriatrie Vol. 45; no. 3; pp. 201 - 211
• Main Authors: Budnick, A, Kummer, K, Blüher, S, Dräger, D
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: German
• Published: Germany 01-04-2012
• Subjects: Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Caregivers - statistics & numerical data; Female; Germany; Health Care Surveys - methods; Health Care Surveys - statistics & numerical data; Health Promotion - utilization; Health Services Accessibility - statistics & numerical data; Humans; Male; Pilot Projects; Risk Assessment; Germany
• ISSN: 1435-1269
• DOI: 10.1007/s00391-011-0278-y

The ARR is a German assessment instrument to survey physical and psychological resources and risks of elderly family caregivers (50+). Factor structure, reliability, and validity were investigated using a sample of 202 caregivers from a national health insurance company. The factorial validity was confirmed for the physical profile (PHP) and the psychological profile (PSP). Reliability is good (PHP: Cronbach's α=0.73; PSP: Cronbach's α=0.71) for the shortness of the profiles. The correlation with self-efficacy constitutes an indicator for construct validity. The psychometric qualities allow the conclusion that the ARR is a reliable and valid instrument which is of interest for family caregivers. Nevertheless, further testing of validity is required.