title: Health and Social Service Access Among Family Caregivers of People with Parkinson's Disease.
abstract: Being a family caregiver for a person with Parkinson's disease (PD) can negatively impact health and wellbeing, but it appears less clear to what extent caregivers' health/social service needs are met.
  
  
  
  We explored the extent to which PD family caregivers experience sufficient access to health/social services, as compared to age-matched controls; and the associations between this and demographic and health-related variables.
  
  
  
  A cross-sectional survey of 66 PD family caregivers and 79 age-matched control subjects including the SF-36 health survey, the Nottingham Health Profile Sleep section (NHP-Sleep), and questions regarding contacts with various health/social related services and whether these were perceived as sufficient.
  
  
  
  People reporting insufficient access (n = 29) were more often PD family caregivers than controls (83% vs. 37%), did more often have a disease of their own (79% vs. 46%), and reported poorer health according to the SF-36 and the NHP-Sleep. Being a PD family caregiver (OR, 8.90), reporting more pain (OR, 1.02) and having an own disease (OR, 3.46) were independently associated with insufficient health/social service access.
  
  
  
  Our results imply that those in greatest need for health/social services (i.e., those with poorer health, an own disease, and who are PD family caregivers) are those whose health/social service needs are least met. Larger studies are needed for firmer conclusions and regarding how unmet health/social service needs impacts caregiver health and wellbeing. Health/social service providers should not only focus on patients but also consider their family members' needs.
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Sciences, Lund University, Lund, Sweden.
authors.forename: Yvonne
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Olsson
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Sciences, Lund University, Lund, Sweden.
authors.forename: Lena
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Clarén
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Care Sciences and Palliative Research Centre, Ersta Sköndal University College, Stockholm, Sweden.|Capio Palliative Care Unit, Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: Anette
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Alvariza
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Care Sciences and Palliative Research Centre, Ersta Sköndal University College, Stockholm, Sweden.|Center for Collaborative Palliative Care, Linnaeus University, Kalmar, Sweden.|Department of Medical and Health Sciences, Linköping University, Sweden.
authors.forename: Kristofer
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Årestedt
authors.affiliation: The PRO-CARE Group, School of Health and Society, Kristianstad University, Kristianstad, Sweden.
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Hagell
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D017028:Caregivers / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006297:Health Services Accessibility / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010300:Parkinson Disease / Q000451:nursing*; D012947:Social Work / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D013548:Sweden
keywords: Caregivers; Parkinson disease; health; health services needs and demand