2015 Tennessee Registered Voters Age 45 and Older Opinions and Experiences on Critical Caregiving Issues

In May 2015, AARP Research conducted an extensive statewide survey about caregiving in Tennessee.  The results provide an eye-opening view of how prevalent caregiving is in Tennessee and the challenges caregivers face every day to support loved ones in need.

Key findings include the following:

• More than half (60%) of Tennessee 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.
  
• More than four in five of these caregivers are helping or have helped with shopping (90%), household chores (84%), or preparing meals (83%).
  
• Nearly seven in ten are helping or have helped with more complex tasks like medication management (70%) and other nursing and medical tasks (69%).
  
• The vast majority of Tennessee 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 (94%) and more resources and training for family caregivers (80%).
  
• A majority of Tennessee registered voters age 45 and older strongly supports proposals that would protect family caregivers in the workplace:
  
  •  Most support requiring employers to allow employees to use their sick leave for caregiving (87%).
    
• A large majority of Tennessee registered voters age 45 and older strongly supports proposals that would help family caregivers when their loved ones go into hospitals:
  
  • 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 (95%).
    
• In Tennessee, there is widespread support among registered voters age 45 and older for a nurse delegation law:
  
  • More than four out of five say they would support allowing registered nurses to delegate some of their responsibilities to other health care workers as long as they were trained to do so.
    
• The majority of Tennessee registered voters age 45 and older strongly support a proposal to provide short-term help from home health aides so family caregivers can take a break from their caregiving duties.
  
  • More than eight in ten (82%) Tennessee registered voters age 45 and older say having community services that would allow family caregivers to take a break from their caregiving duties is important. 
    

The 2015 AARP Survey of Tennessee 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 sample based on the census division information from the state of Tennessee. The interviews were conducted in English by Precision Opinion, Inc. from May 19th through May 22, 2015. The results from the study were weighted by age and gender. For more information contact Aisha Bonner Cozad at ABonner@aarp.org.