A comparison of African American & Caucasian American female caregivers of rural, post-stroke, bedbound older adults.

As changes in health care take place, the care of older adults in the home becomes a greater responsibility of informal caregivers. The purpose of this study was to compare African American and Caucasian American female caregivers of post-stroke, bedbound older adults in rural Mississippi. A purposive sample of 74 caregivers reported bedbound older adults' functional impairments, along with caregivers' stress and self-efficacy, social support, coping, depression, and life satisfaction. Significant differences were determined for self-efficacy between the African American and Caucasian American caregivers. Disordinal interactions existed between race and caregiving self-efficacy on the variables of stress and life satisfaction. Nurses must be cognizant of the many stressors influenced by cultural factors, such as race, faced by these caregivers. This is important to include in the curricula of nursing programs for the 21st century.