| The study examined the characteristics and outcomes of family and friend networks providing care to adults with disability in order to inform caregiving policies and research that traditionally have focused only on care dyads not care networks, network support not care, and care to children or seniors but not adults.; The 1996 Canadian General Social Survey provided a sample of 187, 18 to 64 year olds who, because of their long-term health or physical limitation, received help from family, friends or neighbors. Care networks had a mean size of 1.6 and primarily comprised women, kin, members aged 25 to 64, and living close-by. Adults with disability who were in good health, or who had large networks, were provided the greatest amount and variety of care while those most at risk for inadequate care were those already in poor health or those with networks that were small or without proximate members. |
