Does Receiving Informal Care Lead to Better Health Outcomes? Evidence From China Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey

Wang, Yixiao; Yang, Wei

doi:10.1177/01640275211052834

Cited by 5 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 34 publications

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“…Changes in an individual’s health, well-being or functioning can have profound and significant “spillover” effects on the health and well-being of the family and friends caring for them [ 1 ]. While informal care can improve the health outcomes of the recipient [ 2 ], it is also physically and emotionally straining for the caregiver and often entails them having to forgo opportunities for leisure and employment [ 3 ]. Therefore, although utility can be derived from being the one to provide care for a relative [ 1 , 4 ], most studies find that caregiving overall negatively affects the health and well-being of the care provider [ 5 – 7 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Do Informal Care Recipients Internalise Carer Burden? Examining the Impact of Informal Care Receipt on Health Behaviours

Elliott,

Francetic,

Meacock

et al. 2024

Appl Health Econ Health Policy

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Background Providing informal care has a negative effect on the caregiver’s health and well-being, but little is known about how individuals respond to receiving informal care. Care recipients may improve their health behaviours to minimise the onerousness of caregiving and the stress faced by their carer from seeing a loved one in ill-health. Objective We aimed to examine whether informal care recipients internalise the potential for carer spillovers through changes in health behaviours. Methods We used data from 3250 older adults with care needs who took part in the UK Household Longitudinal Study between 2017 and 2019. We examined the response to informal care receipt in terms of the probability of engaging in four health behaviours: healthy diet, physical activity, smoking and alcohol consumption. We estimated average treatment effects using regression adjustment with inverse probability treatment weights, comparing individuals that received informal care to those receiving either formal or no care. Results We found that informal care receipt increased the probability of refraining from negative health behaviours (smoking and alcohol consumption) but reduced the probability of engaging in positive health behaviours (eating fruits and/or vegetables and physical activity). Conclusions The asymmetric effects detected suggest that the underlying mechanisms are different, and care recipients may be engaging in risk and effort compensation between negative and positive health behaviours. Failure to account for the behavioural responses from informal care recipients may lead to under-estimation or over-estimation of the extent of caregiving burden and the effectiveness of interventions impacting informal carers. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s40258-023-00843-3.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Do Informal Care Recipients Internalise Carer Burden? Examining the Impact of Informal Care Receipt on Health Behaviours

Elliott,

Francetic,

Meacock

et al. 2024

Appl Health Econ Health Policy

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Informal care not only enhances the quality of life of older adults, but also has a key role in socioeconomic growth. First, informal care is often considered effective in improving the well-being of older adults [11], especially care provided by adult children can improve older adults' mental health and life satisfaction [12]. Secondly, most older adults prefer to age in place rather than institutional care [13].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Community-based home care can satisfy the emotional attachment of older adults to their long-term residential environment on the one hand, and avoid the cost of expensive institutional care on the other [14]. For society, informal care can ease the pressure on public nances [11]. The increase in the number of disabled older population will lead to an increase in expenditure on pension and healthcare, and informal care can reduce the risk and incidence of disability among the older adults [23].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Forecasting Informal Care Needs of the Urban-Rural Older Adults in China Based on Multi-state Markov Model

Fang

Zhang

Shen

et al. 2023

Preprint

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Background Forecasting the intensity, source, and cost of informal care for older adults in China is essential to establish and enhance policy support systems for informal care within the context of East Asian traditional culture that emphasizes filial piety. This study aims to analyze the current situation and influencing factors for the informal care needs and predict the trends of informal care needs for older adults in China from 2020 to 2040. Methods Using the CHARLS database from 2015 to 2018, this study first combined the literature analysis method, a two-part model, and a multinomial logit to analyze the aging trend, population size, and influencing factors for the informal care needs of urban-rural older adults in China. Secondly, a multi-state Markov model was constructed to forecast the number of urban-rural older populations in each health state from 2020 to 2040. Finally, based on a microsimulation model, this study predicted the trends of informal care intensity, source, and cost for older adults in urban and rural areas from 2020 to 2040. Results In 2040, the size of the disabled older population in China will expand further. In rural areas, the total number of disabled people in 2040 (39.77 million) is 1.50 times higher than that in 2020; In urban areas, the total number of disabled people in 2040 (56.01 million) is 2.51 times higher than that in 2020. Compared with 2020, the elderly population with mild, moderate and severe disability in 2040 would increase by 87.60%, 101.70%, and 115.08%, respectively. In 2040, the number of older adults receiving low-, medium-, and high-intensity care in China will be 38.60 million, 22.89 million, and 41.69 million, respectively, and older people will still rely on informal care provided by spouses and children (from spouses only: 39.26 million, from children only: 36.74 million, from spouses and children only: 16.79 million, other: 10.39 million). The total cost of informal care in 2040 will be 1,086.65 billion yuan, 2.22 times that of 2020 (490.31 billion yuan), which grows faster than the economic growth rate. Conclusion From 2020 to 2040, the informal care needs of older people in rural areas will increase first and then decrease due to the demographic structure and rapid urbanization. In contrast, the informal care needs of older people in urban areas will continuously increase from 2020 to 2040, with the growth rate gradually slowing down. This study provides an evidence-based rationale for scientifically measuring the economic value of informal care and reasonably allocating care resources.

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Are the grandparents alright? The health consequences of grandparental childcare provision

Eibich,

Zai

2024

J Popul Econ

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This paper examines the causal effect of childcare provision on grandparents’ health in the United States. We use the sex ratio among older adults’ children as an instrument for grandparental childcare provision. Our instrument exploits that parents of daughters transition to grandparenthood earlier and invest more in their grandchildren than parents of sons. We estimate 2SLS regressions using data from the Health and Retirement Study. The results suggest that providing childcare is detrimental to grandparents’ physical functioning and subjective health. We show that these effects increase with the intensity of grandchild care provision, and the effects are driven primarily by grandmothers.

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Does Receiving Informal Care Lead to Better Health Outcomes? Evidence From China Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey

Cited by 5 publications

References 34 publications

Do Informal Care Recipients Internalise Carer Burden? Examining the Impact of Informal Care Receipt on Health Behaviours

Do Informal Care Recipients Internalise Carer Burden? Examining the Impact of Informal Care Receipt on Health Behaviours

Forecasting Informal Care Needs of the Urban-Rural Older Adults in China Based on Multi-state Markov Model

Are the grandparents alright? The health consequences of grandparental childcare provision

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