Development and validation of the caregiver needs and resources assessment

Kin-Kit Li; Cyrus L K Leung; Dannii Yeung; Marcus Y L Chiu; Alice M L Chong; Beck C Y Lam; Edwin K H Chung; T Wing Lo

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1063440

Development and validation of the caregiver needs and resources assessment

Front Psychol. 2023 Mar 17:14:1063440. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1063440. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Kin-Kit Li¹, Cyrus L K Leung², Dannii Yeung¹, Marcus Y L Chiu^{3

4}, Alice M L Chong⁵, Beck C Y Lam^{1

5}, Edwin K H Chung¹, T Wing Lo^{1

6}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Social and Behavioural Sciences, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon, Hong Kong SAR, China.
² The Jockey Club School of Public Health and Primary Care, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong SAR, China.
³ School of Health and Wellbeing, University of Bolton, Bolton, United Kingdom.
⁴ Centre for Mental Health and Society, Bangor University, Bangor, United Kingdom.
⁵ Felizberta Lo Padilla Tong School of Social Sciences, Caritas Institute of Higher Education, Tseung Kwan O, New Territories, Hong Kong SAR, China.
⁶ Caritas Institute of Higher Education, Tseung Kwan O, New Territories, Hong Kong SAR, China.

Abstract

Introduction: Existing caregiver assessment tools were long criticized for focusing on the needs and burden while neglecting the importance of the resources. The current study aimed to develop a multidimensional and time-effective assessment tool that measures both needs and resources of non-paid family caregivers of older adults for screening and service-matching purposes.

Methods: Items of the Caregiver Needs and Resources Assessment (CNRA) were developed from extensive literature reviews and focus group interviews of family caregivers and social workers in the field. In addition, we collected 317 valid responses from family caregivers of older adults from local non-government organizations in examining the psychometric properties of the CNRA.

Results: The results revealed a 12-factor structure that fitted nicely into the conceptual frame of needs and resources domains. Need factors were positively associated with mental health symptoms, while resource factors were positively associated with peace in mind, meaning-making, and personal gain measures. The 36-item CNRA revealed good internal reliability and convergent validity.

Discussion: The CNRA has the potential to be used as a compact yet balanced assessment tool for understanding both the needs and resources of caregivers for human service professionals.

Keywords: Hong Kong; assessment; caregivers; caregivers’ needs; caregivers’ resources; scale development.