Health, Work, and Social Problems in Spanish Informal Caregivers: Does Gender Matter? (The CUIDAR-SE Study)

Abstract

(1) Background: The aim of this study was (i) to analyze problems faced by informal caregivers in three areas of their life: health, work and finances, and family and social relationships, (ii) to investigate the main determinants of these problems, and (iii) to explore differences between men and women. (2) Methods: The study population consisted of people aged ≥18 years living in a family home who were providing unpaid care to a dependent person in the same or another home and who were registered as caregivers with the Primary Health Care District of Granada or the Provincial Council of Gipuzkoa. Several logistic regression models were built to analyze the likelihood of caregivers experiencing health, work-related, or social problems as a result of their caregiving responsibilities. (3) Results: Informal female caregivers were more likely to experience problems attributed to caregiving than their male counterparts, particularly in the areas of health and work. Additional factors associated with an increased likelihood of problems were low perceived social support, performance of ungratifying tasks, and fewer years as a caregiver. (4) Conclusions: Informal caregivers in Spain face significant problems as a result of their caregiving duties, and the impact on men and women is different. Policies and interventions to mitigate the negative effects of unpaid caregiving should incorporate differential strategies to meet the specific needs of male and female caregivers in different caregiving contexts.

A Comprehensive Assessment of Informal Caregivers of Patients in a Primary Healthcare Home-Care Program

“…The relatively limited use of social and healthcare services (i.e., respite program and financial benefits) reiterates previous evidence: public resources, including direct financial benefits, are not used by ICs [ 8 , 15 , 51 ]. Caregivers of patients included in the PHC home program might be reluctant to ask for this aid for various reasons.…”

“…Caring was shared with partners and sons or daughters. In a recent population study carried out in two Spanish regions, ICs were also mainly female (56.56%), caring for their mother or father (40.16%) [ 15 ]. An Australian population study reported that most caregivers were also females (64.1%) aged >50 years (43.6%), although care receivers included children with any frailty condition [ 14 ].…”

“…However, survey designs had other problems, such as the specificity of items and lack of consistency of the answers. Another setting to access ICs is primary healthcare (PHC) because it is the gatekeeper of the healthcare system [ 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 ]. Most people visit a PHC center when they require any healthcare service and they allow access to all kinds of ICs that are not restricted by disease.…”

Caregiving and Caregiver Health 1 Year into the COVID-19 Pandemic (CUIDAR-SE Study): A Gender Analysis

“…First, its cross-sectional design prevents us from drawing any causal inferences, but the formulation of the questions about the effects of the pandemic enabled us to show that it did have a significant effect on the health and wellbeing of male and female caregivers. Second, although our findings cannot be extrapolated to Spain as a whole, the CUIDAR-SE cohort comprises caregivers from two regions that differ both socioeconomically and in terms of access to social care and support services for dependent people [24,45]. This helps understand the universality of gender determinants in different contexts.…”

“…As in other Mediterranean European countries, informal care is very common in Spain, with over 50% of caregivers dedicating more than 20 h a week to this activity [22]. Previous findings from the research team have shown that caregiving is more likely to have negative health, social, and work-related effects on women [23,24]. Support from formal and informal networks throughout the care process has also been shown to have a strong influence on health and wellbeing [25][26][27].…”