The Elder Image Scale: a method for indexing history and emotion in family caregiving.

Although caregiving has been studied extensively, most studies have focused on the activities performed by caregivers, problems encountered and caregivers' reactions. Less attention has been paid to measuring historical and interpersonal factors that may shape the situation and affect outcomes, but are not necessarily embedded in the role itself. The objective of this article is to report on the development and testing of the Elder Image Scale (EIS) which indexes the personal identity of the elder, the mental image the caregiver has of the elder derived from past associations, present observations, and the reconciliation of the past with present impressions. This scale was based on the Family Caregiving Dynamics Model and the personal image of the elder is predicted to be shaped by certain structural factors and to impact both the perceptions of caregivers and the outcomes of caregiving. This article reports on four separate investigations; six-hundred-and-fifty-six caregivers participated. The EIS is in the semantic differential format. Internal consistency ranged from .92 to .98 over four studies. Stability after two weeks was .93 for both subscales. All correlations with criteria were in the direction predicted and most were significant. Known group comparisons showed all group differences were statistically significant as predicted. The EIS is internally consistent, stable and evidences construct validity. In addition, measuring this concept appears to have great relevance for explaining both perceptions of caregivers and outcomes of caregiving.

Toward a cross-cultural perspective of family caregiving.

This article is part of a symposium that explores the issues involved in developing cross-culturally equivalent conceptualizations and measures for studying family caregiving. The examples used are from the instrument development phase of an ongoing program of research designed to generate and test a theory that explains the quality of family caregiving for frail elders at home. This article provides the background for the symposium by introducing the symposium's unifying theme: cross-cultural equivalence. The process described is based on the experiences of the cross-cultural research team and Berry's model for developing cross-culturally equivalent research.

Toward a cross-cultural understanding of family caregiving burden.

This article is part of a symposium describing the development of cross-culturally relevant instruments to measure familism, caregiver burden, and quality of elder caregiving among Anglo- and Mexican American caregivers. This article explores issues involved in measuring caregiving burden. Caregiving burden is thought to adversely affect family caregiving, but the influence of culture on perceptions of burden has not been explored. Because no research focuses on caregiving burden among Mexican American caregivers, the first step involved reviewing the literature for cultural factors influencing caregiving and using the expertise of the cross-cultural team to identify and compare the meaning of caregiving burden in both groups. Next, two instrumentation studies were done to analyze the items on Poulshock and Deimling's Burden Instrument for comparable meaning and internal consistency within and between groups. The third step involved assessing the validity of Poulshock and Deimling's conceptualization of burden cross-culturally.

The relevance of familism in cross-cultural studies of family caregiving.

Although familism has been studied in both Mexican American and Anglo families, there is controversy about whether familism in both groups is the same. Research has shown great within-group variability, and in addition, the kinship structure in the two groups is fundamentally different. This article explores the cross-cultural issues in conceptualizing familism and its relevance to caregiving among Anglo and Mexican American caregivers. Based on data obtained in an ongoing research program, the process of arriving at similarities and differences in the expression of familism is discussed using Berry's criteria for achieving cultural equivalence.

Uncovering the cultural context for quality of family caregiving for elders.

This article is part of a symposium exploring issues in developing cross-culturally equivalent conceptualizations and measures for a study of elder family caregiving. This article describes the development of an instrument to measure quality of elder family caregiving among Anglo and Mexican American caregivers. Following a review of typical approaches for evaluating quality of caregiving, a cross-cultural standard for excellence in elder caregiving is described. An instrument consistent with the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the QUALCARE Scale, is identified as an appropriate cross-cultural instrument for assessing the quality of elder family caregiving. Refinement of the QUALCARE Scale using Berry's model for cross-cultural research, which necessitated identification of appropriate cross-cultural indicators of quality, is described. Examples of this process of indicator clarification are given for several basic human rights, based on the cross-cultural research team members' experiences with Anglo and Mexican American caregivers.

Strategies for achieving cultural equivalence.

The strategy used by a bicultural research team of Anglos and Mexican Americans to develop cultural equivalence in a cross-cultural study of family caregiving is described. Five sequential stages designed to address Berry's (1969) criteria for cross-cultural research (functional equivalence, a comparative descriptive framework, and language equivalence) are described, including (a) start-up, (b) preparation, (c) pilot testing for language equivalence, (d) pilot testing for operational equivalence, and (e) reevaluation.