Melissa Dennison

Informal caregiving is already an important part of the Canadian healthcare system. With the large Baby Boomer population cohort entering its senior and elderly years, care need is expected to rise significantly. Prior research shows that informal caregiving is a complex social phenomenon influenced by many factors. Using Census and Canadian Community Health Survey data, this study analyzes the spatial patterning of informal caregiving in Ontario and explores the relationship between caregiving and selected socio-cultural variables. Spatial auto-correlation and Getis-Ord Gi* analyses revealed a low-to-high, urban-rural-remote pattern of informal caregiving across the province, with the very highest levels found in predominantly First Nationas communities. Geographically Weighted Regression models found a poor relationship between levels of caregiving and marital status, care need and cultural background. This finding contradicts previous literature and common sense about human relationships and may be attributed to model misspecification and insufficient data.