Hospice Caregiver Burden and Work Productivity: An Exploratory Analysis

Hospice caregivers experience burden that impacts their physical, emotional, and social well-being. Little is known about how caregiver burden impacts occupational well-being through employment and work productivity. Thus, our purpose was to explore the relationships between caregiver burden and dimensions of work productivity/impairment (absenteeism, presenteeism, activity impairment, and overall impairment) among working hospice cancer caregivers. This is a secondary data analysis of baseline data from a larger study of caregiver communication and bereavement. Study data including demographics, preparedness for caregiving, caregiver burden, and work productivity/impairment were analyzed using descriptive statistics, correlation analysis, and stepwise multiple linear regression. Dimensions of work productivity/impairment were dependent variables, and age and preparedness for caregiving were covariates. Working caregivers (N=54) had an average age of 52 (SD: 12.65), and were primarily White (83%), female (70%), married (69%), employed full-time (70%) and had a household income of $50,000 or more (65%). Greater caregiver burden was significantly associated with lower preparedness for caregiving (r=-.41, p<.01), and greater activity impairment (r=.50, p<.01), presenteeism (r=.44, p<.01), and overall impairment (r=.36, p<.05), but not absenteeism. Caregiver burden predicted activity impairment (b=1.72 [.72, 2.71], p<.01), presenteeism (b=1.44 [.33, 2.55], p<.01), and overall impairment (b=1.42 [.09, 2.74], p<.05), even after controlling for age and preparation for caregiving. More burdened caregivers may be having more challenges with work productivity. Additional research is needed to examine these relationships in a larger, more diverse sample. Future research should also investigate how supportive work environments and leave policies reduce caregiver burden and promote work productivity.