2014 Hawaii Caregiving Survey: Opinions and Experiences of Hawaii Registered Voters Age 45 and Older
Hawaii registered voters age 45 and older strongly support proposals to help family caregivers navigate the health care system on behalf of their loved ones.
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Most (75%) Hawaii registered voters age 45 and older believe that being cared for at home with caregiver assistance is the ideal situation when the basic tasks of life become more difficult due to aging or illness. In fact, over half (53%) of Hawaii registered voters age 45 and older say they are providing or have provided care on an unpaid basis for an adult loved one in their early eighties who is ill, frail, elderly or who has a disability.
Nearly all Hawaii registered voters believe it is important to have more resources and training for family caregivers so they can help their loved ones live independently in their own homes (95%) as well as community services that allow people to stay in their own home as they age for as long as possible (97%). Among the top community services that Hawaii registered voters age 45 and older believe are extremely or very important to have to help people remain in their own homes as they age are hospice (85%), visiting nurses (81%), and well-trained certified home health care providers (81%).
Hawaii registered voters age 45 and older overwhelmingly support (91%) a proposal to provide short-term help from a home health aide so caregivers can take a break from caregiving duties.
Hawaii registered voters age 45 and older support requiring hospitals and health care facilities to explain and demonstrate medical and nursing tasks that family caregivers will need to perform after the patient returns home (96%); keep a family caregiver informed of major decisions, like transferring or discharging the patient (93%); and record the name of a patient’s family caregiver in the medical record upon admission (86%).
About half (49%) of Hawaii caregivers say they are working or have worked full-time while providing care to an adult loved one and about the same proportion (51%) of these working caregivers report feeling stressed out in trying to balance their job and family.
Hawaii registered voters age 45 and older support ensuring employers cannot fire employees for taking time off for caregiving purposes (86%); requiring employers to provide a limited amount of unpaid leave to employees who have to take time off for caregiving purposes (85%); and requiring employers to provide some paid leave to all employees that can be used for caregiving purposes (87%).
AARP Hawaii commissioned a telephone survey of 1,000 Hawaii registered voters age 45 and older to learn about their experiences with family caregiving, as well as their opinions on proposals to support family caregivers in the state. This report highlights results from registered voters interviewed between August 28 and September 9, 2014. The data in this report has been weighted by age, gender and geographic county of residence to reflect the Hawaii population of registered voters age 45 and older. For more information, contact Joanne Binette at jbinette@aarp.org.