Paid and unpaid support received by co-resident informal caregivers attending to community-dwelling older adults in Spain

Abstract

In this study from Spain, support received from outside the household by informal caregivers of people older than 64 years is analysed. The Spanish Time Use Survey (2002Survey ( -2003) is used to examine: (1) the proportion of co-resident informal caregivers receiving paid and unpaid support by persons from outside the home; (2) the main factors associated with receipt of external paid and unpaid support; and, (3) factors linked to the amount of support received in terms of time. The study sample included 404 caregivers who cohabited with the person receiving care. We used a modified Andersen Behavioural Model as the analytic framework. Significant differences are observed in receipt of support according to predisposing, enabling and need factors. Overall, support (paid and unpaid) is significantly lower among households with women caregivers. In comparison with the least educated caregivers, higher levels of paid support are observed among those with secondary school or higher education, even when income, household size and receiver's age are included in the model. After controlling for care receivers' disability level and age, unpaid support is significantly higher among employed caregivers, spouses and caregivers living in medium-sized cities, versus unemployed caregivers, other relatives and caregivers living in large cities, respectively. These data highlight the inequalities of resources in terms of caregiver gender, socio-economic status and population size. The findings underscore the need to extend analysis not only to primary caregivers, but to caregiving networks and other types of caregiver support as well.

Aging, Disability, and Informal Caregivers: A Cross-sectional Study in Portugal

“…Older people with secondary and postsecondary education are more likely to be cared for by someone from outside, mainly by a housekeeper (7.56%). Similar data were found in a study on the Spanish situation in which users with secondary and postsecondary education are more likely to have paid care from paid domestic workers ( 26 ).…”

Health impact of providing informal care in Portugal

“…Regarding the caregiver’s educational level, our results reinforce previous findings [ 16 , 17 ], which show that co-residential care is associated with lower educational levels. Furthermore, less educated caregivers also receive lower levels of paid support [ 38 ], which can increase the intensive care and number of hours of care provided. Portuguese co-residential caregivers also report worse physical health [ 14 , 16 ], a higher percentage of depressive symptoms [ 15 ], as well as lower quality of life [ 13 ].…”

Associations between care network types and psychological well-being among Dutch older adults

“…There is related evidence, for example, feeling that one is a burden to relatives contributes to a lower level of well-being (Cahill et al, 2009). There is also evidence which demonstrates that, in particular, the use of privately paid care increases a feeling of control over care, while publicly paid formal care use decreases feeling in control of care (Galvin, 2004;Rogero-García and Rosenberg, 2011;Potter, 2017), suggesting that paying for care overcomes issues of feeling dependent on caregivers and offers potentially more control over the service provided than being the passive receiver of care from a state-funded provider. The general hypothesis reads: H4: Differences in depressive symptoms among the four network types are, in part, due to differences in feeling in control of care.…”