Income effect on Support Access of Caregivers of Dependents

Being a caregiver for children and young adults (ages 0-21) with developmental disabilities can be taxing not only mentally, but also physically and economically. Families with low income levels have a harder time balancing healthcare costs, employment, and family life. 

Since support systems can have a huge impact on any human being, we want to understand how they can positively affect caregivers with dependents who have a developmental disability.  We want to see how annual household income influences the access to support services. Furthermore, we want to pinpoint the difference formal and informal support services can have regarding stress reduction and quality of life.

Study Aims

We hope to assess current resources and services available to caregivers of dependents with developmental disability, specifically between different income brackets, within the state of Virginia. We want to pinpoint a population of caregivers that raised disabled dependents with a lack of resources and community support. 

We will ask you some questions about the level of support you feel as a caregiver of a dependent with developmental disabilities. We will also ask for basic demographic information about you and your dependent(s) such as age, gender, race/ethnicity, household income, geographic regions, number of dependents, and type of disability. The survey will take approximately 10 minutes. 

You will need to be at least 18 years old, a resident of Virginia at the time of survey completion, and fluent in English to participate. You must also be the parent or legal guardian of at least one dependent child between the ages of 0 and 21 with a diagnosed developmental disability.

Your answers will be protected and anonymous. You will only be allowed to fill out the survey once. Participation in this survey is voluntary. The research team will manage data collection and analysis. Data will be collected over several months. 

Questions

If you want to ask any questions about this study, please contact Matthew Bogenschutz Associate professor; director, Va-LEND Email: mdbogenschut@vcu.edu Phone: (804) 828-2863.