The Growing Dimensions of Caregiving in America: 2014 AARP Oregon Caregiving Survey

Oregonians want to live independently at home for as long as possible with the help of family caregivers.  They strongly support having community services that will enable people to remain in their own homes as they age.

Key findings from this survey include:

• Over eight in ten (85%) Oregon registered voters age 45 and older say they want to receive care for themselves or their loved ones at home with caregiver assistance when the basic tasks of life become more difficult due to aging or illness.
  • The vast majority of Oregon registered voters age 45 and older says it is important to have services that allow people to stay in their own home as they age (90%) and more resources and training for family caregivers (76%).
• Half (50%) of Oregon registered voters age 45 and older are currently providing or have provided unpaid care to an adult loved one who is ill, frail, elderly or has a physical or mental disability.
  • Nearly all (89%) Oregon registered voter caregivers age 45 and older believe it is important to be able to provide care so that their loved ones can keep living independently in their own home. 
  • More than four in five of these caregivers are helping or have helped with shopping (88%), transportation (87%) or household chores (84%). 
  • At least seven in ten are helping or have helped with more complex tasks like medication management (70%) and other nursing and medical tasks (69%).
• More than four in ten (41%) Oregon registered voters age 45 and older say it is likely that they will provide unpaid care to an adult loved one in the future.
• A large majority of Oregon registered voters age 45 and older strongly supports proposals that would help family caregivers when their loved ones go into hospitals or care facilities:
  • Nearly all support requiring hospitals or care facilities to explain and demonstrate medical tasks family caregivers will need to perform after the patient returns home (91%).
  • Over four in five support keeping family caregivers informed of medical decisions regarding the patient (86%) and requiring hospitals to record the family caregiver’s information in the patient’s medical record (82%).

The 2014 AARP Survey of Oregon Registered Voters Age 45+ on Caregiving was conducted through telephone interviews with a sample of 800 respondents ages 45 and older drawn from an age targeted voter list. The interviews were conducted in English by Precision Opinion, Inc. from July 14rd through July 17th, 2014. The results from the study were weighted by age and gender. For more information, contact Aisha Bonner at abonner@aarp.org.