Neighborhood cohesion and caregiver well-being among the Mexican-origin population

When faced with functional and cognitive impairment, older Latino adults rely primarily on family for care. Little is known about the role of neighborhood structures on the well-being of the family members tasked with delivering care for their elders. Data on care recipients and family caregivers is drawn from the Hispanic Established Population for the Epidemiologic Study of the Elderly, or HEPESE (2010/2011, N=483). Mexican-American caregivers who provide support to family members and who report high levels of neighborhood cohesion-especially, neighborhoods characterized by helpful and trustworthy neighbors-report fewer depressive symptoms than those who provide care to older adults in less cohesive neighborhoods. A lack of close-knit ties in the neighborhood is especially distressing for caregivers who do not reside in the same household as their older family member. Among caregivers that live in neighborhoods characterized by a low level of willingness to help others, caregivers to U.S.-born family members report more depressive symptoms than caregivers to immigrant older adults. Because neighborhood characteristics play an important role in Latino caregiver well-being and stress processes, targeting neighborhood structures should be the focus of intervention strategies that aim to address caregiver burden among the Mexican-origin population.