What is the impact of high caregiver strain on Canadas health care system?
Employed Canadians with higher levels of caregiver strain are in poorer physical health. They were more likely than any other group examined in this study to visit their personal physician and to have spent time in hospital on both an inpatient and an outpatient basis. They also made the highest use of the emergency room and spent the greatest amount on prescription medication. It would appear from these data that caregiver strain is associated with an increased incidence of illness that requires treatment and prescription drugs. The data from this study also determined that the health care costs associated with high caregiver strain are substantial. We calculated that the direct cost of physician visits due to high caregiver strain to be approximately $1 billion per year, the direct costs of inpatient hospital care due to high caregiver strain to be approximately $4 billion per year and the direct costs of visits to a hospital’s emergency department due to high caregiver strain to be
