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Disability in Canada: A 2006 Profile

Disability Facts about Caregiving

Caregiving needs

62.9% of Canadian adults with disabilities report needing help with everyday activities:

  • It is estimated that 2.6 million Canadian adults with disabilities require help with at least one out of nine everyday activities.
Type of activity Population with disabilities requiring assistance Proportion of all adults with disabilities
Heavy household chores 2166820 51.40%
Housework 1554430 36.90%
Appointments & errands 1502050 35.60%
Preparing meals 981090 23.30%
Personal finances 757460 18.00%
Personal care 512940 12.20%
Home nursing/medical care 254640 6.00%
Moving about 246210 5.80%
Child care 85200 2.00%

* Respondents could identify requiring help with more than one of the daily activities.

Unmet caregiving needs

Just under half of Canadian adults with disabilities that require help with everyday activities have at least some unmet caregiving needs (see chart below):

  • 44.6% of adults who require some help with everyday activities report having an unmet need in one or more areas.
  • The most common reason given for needs being unmet was the cost of obtaining help is too expensive. Not knowing where to look for help was also a common reason.

Chart 1: Population with disabilities with unmet needs by activity

This is a vertical bar graph that illustrates the population with disabilities with unmet caregiving needs.

* Respondents could identify requiring help with more than one of the daily activities.

[ Chart 1 Description … ]

Caregivers

Family members are the most likely caregivers:

  • Adults with disabilities who received help with everyday activities were asked about their relationship with their primary caregivers (up to three). Of these,
    • 72.1 % were family members.
    • 17.5 % were close friends, neighbours, paid employees or workers.
    • 6.6% were government and non-government organizations.
  • If the primary caregivers were unable to assist, 43.4% of adults with disabilities felt they would have difficulty finding assistance from someone else.

Out-of-pocket expenses

Housework and heavy household chores are the two activities for which obtaining help is most likely to result in out-of-pocket expenses.

Type of activity Percentage with out-of-pocket expenses
Housework 19.90%
Heavy household chores 17.50%
Child care 15.80%
Preparing meals 9.20%
Appointments & errands 8.80%
Home nursing/medical care 7.10%
Personal care 6.20%
Moving about 5.60%
Personal finances 3.30%

Among care recipients that had out-of-pocket expenses for acquiring help with daily activities, obtaining help for preparing meals was reported to be the most expensive.

Chart 2: Population with disabilities with unmet needs by activity

This is a vertical bar graph that illustrates the average out-of-pocket costs for help by activity.

* Only those who had out-of-pocket costs are included in the cost averages for each activity.

[ Chart 2 Description … ]

Source: Participation and Activity Limitation Survey (PALS) 2006
Note: Data listed above is of the full 2006 Canadian population and may be different than that of previously released Federal Disability Reports due to different methodology of developing the samples. Please see the 2009 Federal Disability Report, page 3, for more information.

Alternate formats

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Disability Facts about Caregiving (PDF Version, 670 Kb)

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Date Modified:
2011-08-04