Caring for an adult with intellectual disability can be physically, emotionally and financially demanding. Over 110,000 Australians with intellectual disability have an informal carer; in over 70% of these cases the carer is the parent of the care recipient (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 2009). With advances in health care, life expectancy has increased, with the consequence that more elderly parents are carers for adults with intellectual disability (Tucker, Taylor Gomez, Rey-Conde, and Lennox, 2011). Previous studies from North America, Australia and Asia have reported the caring role has a significant impact on the mental and physical health of carers; however, predictors of negative impact were conflicting. Identified predictors include service availability (Burton-Smith, McVilly, Yazbeck, Parmenter, and Tsutsui, 2009; Knox, Parmenter, Atkinson, and Yazbeck, 2000; Llewellyn, Gething, Kendig, and Cant, 2004), lack of funding (Bigby, Balandin, Fyffe, McCubbery, and Gordon, 2004) and long term accommodation planning (Eley, Boyes, Young, and Hegney, 2009; Minnes and Woodford, 2004). The aim of this study is to investigate the level of stress and burden on family-based carers of adults with intellectual disability and determine which factors are associated with the overall well-being of carers.
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