Domestic helpers as frontline workers in China’s home-based elder care: A systematic review

Abstract

We conducted a systematic review of the existing empirical studies focusing on Chinese domestic helpers in mainland China and foreign domestic helpers in Hong Kong who provide care for community-dwelling older adults. There are very limited studies specifically focusing on this population. The findings synthesized domestic helpers' characteristics, acknowledged their contributions to elder care in China, and showed multiple challenges facing them, such as issues related to their physical health and emotional well-being, lack of legal rights protection, difficulties of adapting life in the host city, lack of training, and risk of abuse and sexual harassment. Our findings support the need for developing training and educational programs about legal rights protection and cultural competency for domestic helpers and the need to promote domestic helpers' access to health care and social welfare and opportunities for career advancement, and provide respectful working conditions.

The Quality of Caregivers for the Elderly in Long-Term Care Institutions in Zhejiang Province, China

“…The proportion of the population aged 65 years and older is estimated to reach 22.6% by 2040, double that in 2010 (9%) [2]. In addition, older adults are at high risk for chronic diseases and become functionally disabled [3]. The increase in the number of elderly people, the increase in life expectancy and the decline in fertility rate have aggravated the overall burden to society to care for the aged.…”

A feminist phenomenology on the emotional labor and morality of live-in migrant care workers caring for older people in the community

“…Global societal changes, such as low birth rates, increasing longevity, and changing family structures, have led to an increasing global trend of shifting the task of caring for older people in the community from family members to live-in migrant care workers (MCWs) [4–6]. This is happening in places such as Asia [7, 8], Canada [9], and in many European nations [10–13]. The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (hereafter, Hong Kong) is an affluent but ageing city located in the southern part of China.…”

“…In a systematic review conducted in China, 50% of live-in workers stated that they found it difficult to manage their negative emotions in interpersonal interactions [7]. Common stressors that trigger their negative emotions included the renewal of their employment contract and abusive behavior by employers, such as physical and verbal abuse, sexual harassment, and economic exploitation [7, 28]. For example, if an employer or a live-in MCW terminates an employment contract in Hong Kong, the live-in MCW has to leave Hong Kong within two weeks if s/he cannot start a new employment contract within those weeks.…”

Research on the health of and interventions for family caregivers of people with dementia: a bibliometric analysis of research output during 1988–2018

“…Based on the above caregiver health issues, several international agreements and conventions were drafted by the WHO and Alzheimer's Disease International (ADI), and some countries also have policies protecting the rights of caregivers, such as the 10/66 'Helping Carers to Care' train-the-trainer intervention in ADI [24], a national strategy for carers and Care Act in the UK [25][26][27][28], and the national dementia strategies in Australia. However, most countries/ regions still do not have long-term care (LTC) services and support for family caregivers of people with dementia, such as China [29]. Furthermore, research institutes in various countries have conducted extensive research investigating interventions for dementia caregivers' health issues.…”