The Protective Effects of Informal Care Receipt Against the Progression of Functional Limitations Among Chinese Older People

Abstract

Trajectories of function capabilities are deeply embedded in social relationships. In the context of rapid population ageing and increasing demand for informal care, government support for caregivers is needed to sustain the protective effects of informal care.

Associations between social support and verbal memory: 14-year follow-up of the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing cohort

“…Social support has been identified by the World Health Organization as a key social environmental factor that can enhance health, participation, and security as people age (WHO, 2002). It represents the main source of informal care for older adults to protect against progression of functional limitations (Hu & Li, 2020) and improve quality of life (Liao & Brunner, 2016). While the magnitude of the associations shown in this present study were modest, even minor differences in levels of cognitive functioning can over a period of several years substantially increase dependence and risk of adverse outcomes such as dementia (Edwards et al ., 2005).…”

Self‐reported vision impairment, vision correction, and depressive symptoms among middle‐aged and older Chinese: Findings from the China health and retirement longitudinal study

“…All these covariates were defined a priori based on factors that could confound the associations between vision impairment, vision correction and depressive symptoms 25,36 . For marital status, cohabited was considered as married while separated, divorced or widowed were defined as others 37,38 . Education level was categorized into three levels: no formal education, primary education only, and secondary education and higher.…”

“…25,36 For marital status, cohabited was considered as married while separated, divorced or widowed were defined as others. 37,38 Education level was categorized into three levels: no formal education, primary education only, and secondary education and higher. According to the VC status at baseline and the next follow-up assessment, changing VC status were categorized into three categories: stable status of no VC (without VC at baseline and the next follow-up assessment), stable status of VC (with VC at baseline and the next follow-up assessment), unstable status of VC (without stable status of no VC or VC) among those followed-up at least one time.…”

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

“…Long-term care (LTC) is important for older people who have difficulties in performing basic activities of daily living (ADL) (Hu & Li, 2018). Informal care, defined as unpaid care in daily activities provided to older people by spouse, children, grandchildren, other relatives, neighbors or friends (Van Groenou & Glaser, 2006), is the most common form of LTC in both developed and developing countries (Wang et al, 2021).…”