Graduation Year
2008
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree
Ph.D.
Degree Granting Department
Aging Studies
Major Professor
William E. Haley, Ph.D.
Committee Member
Tamara A. Baker, Ph.D.
Committee Member
Yuri Jang, Ph.D.
Committee Member
Victor Molinari, Ph.D.
Committee Member
Brent J. Small, Ph.D.
Keywords
bereavement, caregiving, depressive symptoms, anxiety, grief, social resources
Abstract
For family caregivers, response to the death of the care recipient is marked by a high degree of variability. In recognition of this variability, a range of services and interventions is available to assist individuals in the adjustment to bereavement. The present dissertation, consisting of three related studies, was conducted to examine the utilization of bereavement services by family caregivers.
The first study examined the role of psychological distress in the utilization of bereavement services by spousal caregivers in the Changing Lives of Older Couples (CLOC) study. The second study examined bereavement service utilization among dementia caregiver participants in the Resources for Enhancing Alzheimer's Caregiver Health (REACH) study. Both employed Andersen's Behavioral Model of Health Services Use. The third study examined bereavement service utilization, barriers, and preferences among bereaved spousal caregivers of patients of three hospices in Tampa Bay.
Taken together, results of the current studies point to the importance of family physicians and members of the clergy in the provision of services to bereaved family caregivers and to the prominent role of bereavement outcomes (e.g., depressive symptoms, grief) as need factors in the utilization of bereavement services.
Scholar Commons Citation
Bergman, Elizabeth J., "Service Utilization among Bereaved Spouses and Family Caregivers" (2008). USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations.
https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/etd/139
