​Caregivers provide support for older adults with physical functioning limitations, which are associated with fall risk. Using the 2004-2012 waves of the Health and Retirement Study, authors examined whether receipt of low (0-13 weekly hours) and high levels (14 or more weekly hours) of informal care or any formal care is associated with lower risk of falls and fall-related injuries (FRIs) among community-dwelling older adults.

The study reports caregiving receipt categories were jointly significant in predicting non-injurious falls but not FRIs. High levels of informal care category and formal care had stronger associations with reduced fall risk relative to low levels of informal care. Among individuals with three or more activities of daily living, fall risks were reduced by 21 percent for those receiving high levels of informal care; additionally, FRIs were reduced by 42 percent and 58 percent for those receiving high levels of informal care and any formal care. High levels of informal care receipt were also associated with a 54 percent FRI risk reduction among the cognitively impaired.

• Geoffrey J. Hoffman
• Ron D. Hays
• Steven P. Wallace, PhD
• Martin Shapiro
• Olga Yakusheva
• Susan L. Ettner, PhD