Table 1.

Participant characteristics (n = 30).

Characteristic	n
Age range of caregivers	22–79 years
Gender
Male	7
Female	23
Self-identified ethnicity
Māori	12
European New Zealander	13
Other (Cook Island, Samoan, Tongan)	5
Caring for
Mother	14
Father	5
Spouse/partner	5
Other relative (e.g. sibling, great-uncle)	4
Friend/client	2
Life-limiting illness (primary)a
Type 1 (cancer)	19
Type 2 (COPD, cardiac, diabetes)	7
Type 3 (dementia, motor neuron)	4
Length of time caringb
Less than 1 month	2
1–6 months	6
>6 month–1 year	4
>1–2 years	8
>2–4 years	6
More than 4 years	4
Household incomec
<NZ$50,000 (low)	17
NZ$50,001–NZ$100,000 (medium)	10
>NZ$100,000 (high)	2

COPD: chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

^aIllness trajectory types are as follows: (1) short period of evident decline, (2) chronic with acute episodes and (3) prolonged dwindling.¹⁹

^bParticipants variously defined period of care; end-stage ‘palliative’ may be just weeks but full-time provision of care in context of life-limiting illness may have been years.

^cN = 29, as the family of one care recipient who was in a long-term residential care facility did not wish to disclose their income. Household income could include carer’s income, care recipient’s income (if living in household) and income from other family members residing in household (e.g. spouse) and does not reflect costs, such as how many children supported on that income and accommodation costs. The mean household income in 2012 in New Zealand was NZ$81,067 (mean individual income NZ$38,843).