NEW YORK: Amongst unpaid, informal caregivers of older people with illness or disability, male caregivers can be ambivalent about asking for help, according to a new review.
Caregivers are often family or close friends. 58% of informal caregivers are female. But that leaves more than 40% who are men.
It can be harder to study male caregivers because they are less likely to identify themselves that way, said the report.
“A lot of the people the government would call a ‘carer’ would call themselves a husband. They are less likely to categorize themselves as carers so they don’t even think to go for support. They see themselves as doing what a husband or son would do,” said the study.
The new review synthesized seven studies. Male caregivers felt committed to their roles and saw it as their duty, but were ambivalent about seeking help in the community…