91原创

She said the decision to launch this study came after she took a rapid look at the issue of unpaid caregiving and mental health during the first wave of Covid pandemic in 2020. Of the 139 research papers published between 2003 and 2020 that touched on the subject, she found that only seven were Canadian and just one identified race and ethnicity 鈥� and even then, 95 per cent of the participants identified as white.

She said it is surprising how little we know about that people providing unpaid care in 91原创 when it is such an essential part of the nation鈥檚 healthcare system.

The study, which features a team of researchers from across 91原创, is funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and includes the participation of community partners, such as the Pentecost International Worship Center, the Council for Agencies Serving South Asians (CASSA) and the Yee Hong Centre for Geriatric Care.

鈥淲e are growing our ageing population, and it is going to double to 4.5 million by 2041. And racial and ethnic minority seniors are the fastest growing segment of our aging population,鈥� said Parry. 鈥淭he main thing we are looking at is caregiver wellbeing, and then we look at some of the roles and tasks. And, specifically, we are looking for unpaid caregiver who provide care to recipients who are over 18 years of age.鈥�

She said so that far they have completed about 50 per cent of the total number of surveys they want to collect, and that about 60 per cent have come from members of the Black, South Asian and Chinese communities. We recently spoke to Parry more about the survey and its importance.

What are you looking at in the survey?

This is really the first part of a three-part study. The first part is a survey and then in the second stage we intend to do some quantitative interviews with caregivers who rate their wellbeing as good or excellent. And we also want to interview those that rate their wellbeing as poor.

We want to learn more about their experiences and how they come to rate their health as good, or their health as poor, and what are some of the supports and services they have access to that may impact their wellbeing. The last part is a consensus stage to decide on policy implications around what we find.

What are some of those health concerns?

In our review in 2020, we didn鈥檛 find a lot related to substance abuse, like alcohol consumption or smoking intake. What we did find 鈥� and most of it was related to young, white women 鈥� was reporting of depression and anxiety.

That is of interest to me because depression increases the risk of heart disease in women. Anxiety increases the risk of hyper-tension which leads to increased incidents of disease. So that is sort of my interest in this whole thing 鈥� the risk of chronic disease in a young to middle-aged population that is providing significant amounts of unpaid care and not probably realizing the stresses associated with it.

Is this work seen as caregiving or just a family responsibility?

It is an interesting question.

The Black, South Asian and Chinese populations are the fastest growing immigrant groups in 91原创, and they are going to represent a significant portion of our older-aged population in the future, so it only seems intuitive that we look at unpaid caregiving roles in those populations.

I am sure they do a lot of unpaid caregiving. But it is kind of like you are in between a rock and a hard place because you are busy with your unpaid caregiving roles and likely less inclined to do a survey.

There are also some cultural differences about sharing what they do, because 鈥� as you say 鈥� it could be just considered part of their norm and what they should do in their culture. And care of others means they might not be attentive to their own needs as a result.

How important is the involvement from the community to this study?

It is absolutely essential. They are what is driving this. They see the need and actually provide services to unpaid caregivers within their community, and it is a priority for them. Combining with them, and helping them meet their needs, is important.

CASSA has been super helpful. They have a reach across 91原创. Part of this is related to literacy and the ability to complete a survey, especially an online survey that targets a specific population. We have assistance through CASSA in British Colombia, in Windsor, in the 91原创 area to help translate the tool and work with unpaid caregivers to complete the survey online.

And that is why having grant funding is important. We can support them financially for doing this work to learn more about unpaid caregiving roles and their needs. So, it is a true collaboration.

Why is it important to study this?

I truly think, as others do, that unpaid caregivers are the backbone of our Canadian healthcare system. They provide three-quarters of the care at home, and this really contributes billions of dollars of unpaid work annually to our health care system.

I was at a conference recently and there was a presentation from a researcher on long-term care, and he was basically saying that long-term care homes don鈥檛 provide culturally sensitive care. He speaks mainly to people of Asian descent in his research, and they do not want to go into long term care facilities because they can鈥檛 get simple things, like rice during their meals.

This is why so many people are staying at home and need unpaid support and services from family members or friends. Because they can get culturally sensitive care at home while it doesn鈥檛 seem they can yet get at or retirement or long-term care centres.

NOTE: This interview has been edited for length and clarity. To learn more about the study, visit .