Experiences of Mental Health Carers Examined Using a Recovery Framework

Figures & data

Table 1 Sociodemographic Characteristics of Carers and Caring Relationships (n = 1,918)

Sociodemographic variables		n (%)
Age	10 to 19	21 (1.2)
	20 to 29	38 (2.2)
	30 to 39	162 (9.4)
	40 to 49	402 (23.4)
	50 to 59	470 (27.3)
	60 to 69	372 (21.6)
	70 to 79	213 (12.4)
	80 to 89	38 (2.2)
	90 to 99	3 (0.2)
Gender	Female	1,503 (86.5)
	Male	222 (12.8)
	Nonbinary/gender diverse	7 (0.4)
	Prefer not to say	6 (0.4)
Education	Less than high school	271 (15.7)
	High school	195 (11.3)
	Certificate/Diploma	655 (37.9)
	Bachelor or higher	608 (35.2)
Cultural backgrounds	Australian	1,345 (79.9)
	Australian and other	86 (5.1)
	First Nations Australian and other	21 (1.2)
	Other	231 (13.7)
Caring for	Child (incl. adult children)	1,100 (57.6)
	Partner or spouse	459 (24.0)
	Parent or parent-in-law	172 (9.0)
	Brother or sister	66 (3.5)
	Friend or neighbour	44 (2.3)
	Grandchild	29 (1.5)
	Former partner	10 (0.5)
	Grandparent	3 (0.2)
	Other	26 (1.4)

Note: Age: missing 199, Gender: missing 180, Cultural backgrounds: missing 235, Education: missing 189; Caring for: missing 9.

Table 2 Personal Wellbeing Index of Carers of People Using Mental Health Services

	Carer sample			Australian population norm^a
	N	Mean	SD	N	Mean	SD
Global life satisfaction	1,766	51.42	25.92	1,963	76.34	16.18
Standard of living	1,772	59.06	25.82	1,962	81.17	15.43
Health	1,768	45.66	25.33	1,965	75.60	18.50
Achieving in life	1,764	46.03	25.69	1,960	72.43	18.77
Personal relationships	1,767	48.90	28.17	1,959	78.90	20.41
Personal safety	1,768	63.37	26.98	1,963	84.38	15.54
Community connectedness	1,765	47.12	27.80	1,957	70.55	19.99
Future security	1,763	44.58	29.33	1,948	71.92	19.48
Sum PWI	1,741	50.60	21.67	1,927	76.45	12.52

^a Khor et al. (2020).

Table 3 Taking Time Out, Caregiving Needs, Financial Stress, and Recognition of Carers of People Using Mental Health Services

		n (%)
Taking time out to pursue own goals and interests	Strongly agree	52 (3.0)
	Agree	293 (16.8)
	Neither agree nor disagree	383 (22.0)
	Disagree	500 (28.7)
	Strongly disagree	512 (29.4)
Meeting needs of carers	Strongly agree	40 (2.6)
	Agree	187 (12.4)
	Neither agree nor disagree	390 (25.8)
	Disagree	418 (27.6)
	Strongly disagree	477 (31.5)
Asked about needs as carers	Strongly agree	141 (8.1)
	Agree	319 (18.3)
	Neither agree nor disagree	292 (16.8)
	Disagree	443 (25.4)
	Strongly disagree	548 (31.4)
Giving break from providing care	Strongly agree	65 (4.2)
	Agree	187 (11.9)
	Neither agree nor disagree	333 (21.3)
	Disagree	466 (29.8)
	Strongly disagree	515 (32.9)
Experiences of financial stress in past 12 months	No experience	645 (38.6)
	One financial stress	321 (19.2)
	Two financial stresses	186 (11.1)
	3 or more financial stresses	518 (31.0)
Recognised by service providers	Strongly agree	121 (7.2)
	Agree	496 (29.5)
	Neither agree nor disagree	518 (30.8)
	Disagree	313 (18.6)
	Strongly disagree	234 (13.9)
Recognised by government departments	Strongly agree	52 (3.1)
	Agree	201 (12.0)
	Neither agree nor disagree	444 (26.5)
	Disagree	360 (21.5)
	Strongly disagree	618 (36.9)

Notes: Taking time out to pursue own goals and interests: missing 178, Meeting needs of carers: missing 406, Asked about needs as carers: missing 175, Giving break from providing care: missing 352, Experiences of financial stress: missing 248, Service provider recognition: missing 236, Government department recognition: missing 243.

Khor, S., Cummins, R. A., Fuller-Tyszkiewicz, M., Capic, T., Jona, C., Olsson, C. A., & Hutchinson, D. (2020). Australian Unity Wellbeing Index—report 37: Subjective wellbeing during COVID-19. Australian Centre on Quality of Life, School of Psychology, Deakin University. http://www.acqol.com.au/projects#reports

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