A new measure of ‘lay’ care-giver activities

The Lay Care-Giving for Adults Receiving Dialysis (LC-GAD) was developed using qualitative and quantitative approaches to systematically measure the breadth and quantity of caregiver activities. The reliability and validity of these evaluations was tested on a sample of 447 Canadian family members and friends who cared for adults on dialysis. Factor analysis was performed independently assessing two components. The first measured the abstract, cognitive work of care-giving (Think-LC-GAD) which included the subscales of appraisal, advocating, coaching, juggling and routinizing. These five factors explained two-thirds of the total variance of the Think-LC-GAD. The second component measured the concrete tasks of care-giving (Task-LC-GAD) which included providing transportation, performing dialysis, personal hygiene, diet, symptom relief, comfort measures and teaching self-care. These seven factors explained seven-eights of the total variance in the Task-LCGAD. Test-retest reliability of these two components had significant correlation coefficients. The validity of the Think- and Task-LC-GADs showed positive correlations between themselves and the perceived burden of care-giving, the trait of conscientiousness and self-reported self-care abilities.