IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/plo/pone00/0194232.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

What seems to matter in public policy and the health of informal caregivers? A cross-sectional study in 12 European countries

Author

Listed:
  • Laia Calvó-Perxas
  • Joan Vilalta-Franch
  • Howard Litwin
  • Oriol Turró-Garriga
  • Pedro Mira
  • Josep Garre-Olmo

Abstract

In Europe, informal caregiving is frequent and is expected to grow. Caregiving has an impact on caregivers’ health, but its effect may vary according to the policies of support that are available to caregivers. The aim of this study was to assess the association between the policies of support to caregivers available in 12 European countries and the health of caregivers, considering separately the policies based on financial help and those based on training and other non- financial services. We used data from 13,507 caregivers from 12 European countries from the fifth wave of the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) to build a path model. Poor health among caregivers was associated with living in a family-based care country (β = 0.50; 95% CI = 0.42–0.59), and with an increased extent of caregiving (β = 0.18; 95% CI = 0.15–0.22). Non-financial support measures seem to have a larger protective impact (β = –0.33; 95% CI = –0.38 - –0.28) on the health of caregivers than do financial support measures (β = 0.03; 95% CI = 0.01–0.04), regardless of the gender of the caregiver. According to our results, the currently available policies of support associated with better health among caregivers are those that: 1) provide them with some free time, 2) help them to deal emotionally with caregiving, and 3) give them skills to both improve the care situation and to deal with it better.

Suggested Citation

  • Laia Calvó-Perxas & Joan Vilalta-Franch & Howard Litwin & Oriol Turró-Garriga & Pedro Mira & Josep Garre-Olmo, 2018. "What seems to matter in public policy and the health of informal caregivers? A cross-sectional study in 12 European countries," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 13(3), pages 1-12, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0194232
    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0194232
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0194232
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0194232&type=printable
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1371/journal.pone.0194232?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Courtin, Emilie & Jemiai, Nadia & Mossialos, Elias, 2014. "Mapping support policies for informal carers across the European Union," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 118(1), pages 84-94.
    2. Elenka Brenna & Cinzia Novi, 2016. "Is caring for older parents detrimental to women’s mental health? The role of the European North–South gradient," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 14(4), pages 745-778, December.
    3. Marjolein I. Broese van Groenou & Alice Boer, 2016. "Providing informal care in a changing society," European Journal of Ageing, Springer, vol. 13(3), pages 271-279, September.
    4. Rie Fujisawa & Francesca Colombo, 2009. "The Long-Term Care Workforce: Overview and Strategies to Adapt Supply to a Growing Demand," OECD Health Working Papers 44, OECD Publishing.
    5. Genet, Nadine & Kroneman, Madelon & Boerma, Wienke G.W., 2013. "Explaining governmental involvement in home care across Europe: An international comparative study," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 110(1), pages 84-93.
    6. Martin Pinquart & Silvia Sörensen, 2007. "Correlates of Physical Health of Informal Caregivers: A Meta-Analysis," The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, The Gerontological Society of America, vol. 62(2), pages 126-137.
    7. van Exel, Job & de Graaf, Gjalt & Brouwer, Werner, 2008. "Give me a break!: Informal caregiver attitudes towards respite care," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 88(1), pages 73-87, October.
    8. Kaschowitz, Judith & Brandt, Martina, 2017. "Health effects of informal caregiving across Europe: A longitudinal approach," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 173(C), pages 72-80.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Margarita Pérez-Cruz & Laura Parra-Anguita & Catalina López-Martínez & Sara Moreno-Cámara & Rafael del-Pino-Casado, 2019. "Coping and Anxiety in Caregivers of Dependent Older Adult Relatives," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(9), pages 1-10, May.
    2. Costa-Font, Joan & Vilaplana-Prieto, Cristina, 2022. "Mental health effects of caregivers respite: Subsidies or Supports?," The Journal of the Economics of Ageing, Elsevier, vol. 23(C).
    3. Klara Raiber & Ellen Verbakel & Alice Boer, 2022. "Testing the informal care model: intrapersonal change in care provision intensity during the first lockdown of the COVID-19 pandemic," European Journal of Ageing, Springer, vol. 19(4), pages 1287-1300, December.
    4. Sandrine Juin, 2019. "Formal home care, informal support and caregiver health: should other people care?," Erudite Working Paper 2019-21, Erudite.
    5. Calvó-Perxas, Laia & Vilalta-Franch, Joan & Litwin, Howard & Mira, Pedro & Garre-Olmo, Josep, 2021. "A longitudinal study on public policy and the health of in-house caregivers in Europe," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 125(4), pages 436-441.
    6. Longobardo, Luz María Peña & Rodríguez-Sánchez, Beatriz & Oliva, Juan, 2023. "Does becoming an informal caregiver make your health worse? A longitudinal analysis across Europe," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 50(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Calvó-Perxas, Laia & Vilalta-Franch, Joan & Litwin, Howard & Mira, Pedro & Garre-Olmo, Josep, 2021. "A longitudinal study on public policy and the health of in-house caregivers in Europe," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 125(4), pages 436-441.
    2. Kaschowitz, Judith & Brandt, Martina, 2017. "Health effects of informal caregiving across Europe: A longitudinal approach," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 173(C), pages 72-80.
    3. Bom, Judith & Stöckel, Jannis, 2021. "Is the grass greener on the other side? The health impact of providing informal care in the UK and the Netherlands," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 269(C).
    4. Longobardo, Luz María Peña & Rodríguez-Sánchez, Beatriz & Oliva, Juan, 2023. "Does becoming an informal caregiver make your health worse? A longitudinal analysis across Europe," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 50(C).
    5. Estrada Fernández, Mª Eugenia & Gil Lacruz, Ana I. & Gil Lacruz, Marta & Viñas López, Antonio, 2019. "Informal care. European situation and approximation of a reality," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 123(12), pages 1163-1172.
    6. Elisa Labbas & Maria Stanfors, 2023. "Does Caring for Parents Take Its Toll? Gender Differences in Caregiving Intensity, Coresidence, and Psychological Well-Being Across Europe," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 39(1), pages 1-29, December.
    7. Juan Oliva-Moreno & Marta Trapero-Bertran & Luz Maria Peña-Longobardo & Raúl del Pozo-Rubio, 2017. "The Valuation of Informal Care in Cost-of-Illness Studies: A Systematic Review," PharmacoEconomics, Springer, vol. 35(3), pages 331-345, March.
    8. Ludovico Carrino & Vahé Nafilyan & Mauricio Avendano, 2023. "Should I Care or Should I Work? The Impact of Work on Informal Care," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 42(2), pages 424-455, March.
    9. Carrino, L.; & Nafilyan, V.; & Avendaño Pabon, M.;, 2019. "Should I Care or Should I Work? The Impact of Working in Older Age on Caregiving," Health, Econometrics and Data Group (HEDG) Working Papers 19/23, HEDG, c/o Department of Economics, University of York.
    10. Mariana Calderón-Jaramillo & Pilar Zueras, 2023. "Cared and uncared populations: understanding unmet care needs of older adults (65+) across different social care systems in Europe," European Journal of Ageing, Springer, vol. 20(1), pages 1-14, December.
    11. Raúl Del Pozo-Rubio & Pablo Moya-Martínez & Marta Ortega-Ortega & Juan Oliva-Moreno, 2020. "Shadow and extended shadow cost sharing associated to informal long-term care: the case of Spain," Health Economics Review, Springer, vol. 10(1), pages 1-12, December.
    12. Flaminia Reale & Federica Segato & Daniela Tartaglini & Cristina Masella, 2020. "Action Research as a Method to Find Solutions for the Burden of Caregiving at Hospital Discharge," Systemic Practice and Action Research, Springer, vol. 33(2), pages 167-185, April.
    13. Urwin, Sean & Lau, Yiu-Shing & Grande, Gunn & Sutton, Matthew, 2023. "Informal caregiving and the allocation of time: implications for opportunity costs and measurement," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 334(C).
    14. P.L. de Zwart & P. Bakx & E.K.A. van Doorslaer, 2017. "Will you still need me, will you still feed me when I'm 64? The health impact of caregiving to one's spouse," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 26(S2), pages 127-138, September.
    15. Leporatti Lucia & Montefiori Marcello, 2020. "The Challenge of Organizing Elderly Care Programmes: Optimal Policy Design under Complete and Asymmetric Information," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 20(1), pages 1-15, January.
    16. Miller, Lyndsey M. & Utz, Rebecca L. & Supiano, Katherine & Lund, Dale & Caserta, Michael S., 2020. "Health profiles of spouse caregivers: The role of active coping and the risk for developing prolonged grief symptoms," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 266(C).
    17. Laura Muñoz-Bermejo & José Carmelo Adsuar & Salvador Postigo-Mota & Inés Casado-Verdejo & Claudia Mara de Melo-Tavares & Miguel Ángel Garcia-Gordillo & Jorge Pérez-Gómez & Jorge Carlos-Vivas, 2020. "Relationship of Perceived Social Support with Mental Health in Older Caregivers," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(11), pages 1-13, May.
    18. Bilotkach, Volodymyr & Braakmann, Nils & Gonzalo-Almorox, Eduardo & Wildman, John, 2017. "The effect of house prices on the long-term care market: Evidence from England," MPRA Paper 81987, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    19. Le, Duc Dung & Ibuka, Yoko, 2023. "Understanding the effects of informal caregiving on health and well-being: Heterogeneity and mechanisms," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 317(C).
    20. Gonçalves, Judite & von Hafe, Francisco & Filipe, Luís, 2021. "Formal home care use and spousal health outcomes," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 287(C).

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0194232. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: plosone (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.