Understanding Health Trajectories among Unpaid Carers in the United Kingdom
<p><strong>Context:</strong> There is very little research on the impact of caring on physical health, and the evidence that exists is mixed. There is also lack of evidence on the role of other factors including both socio-economic factors and the role played by care services and u...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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LSE Press
2022-04-01
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| Series: | Journal of Long-Term Care |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://journal.ilpnetwork.org/articles/124 |
| _version_ | 1797961723244707840 |
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| author | Javiera Cartagena Farias Nicola Brimblecombe |
| author_facet | Javiera Cartagena Farias Nicola Brimblecombe |
| author_sort | Javiera Cartagena Farias |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | <p><strong>Context:</strong> There is very little research on the impact of caring on physical health, and the evidence that exists is mixed. There is also lack of evidence on the role of other factors including both socio-economic factors and the role played by care services and unmet needs for such services.</p><p><strong>Aims:</strong> This study aims to understand the association between physical health outcomes among unpaid carers in the United Kingdom compared to individuals who have not provided unpaid care, and investigate what is the role that time, and unmet needs for care services play in this relationship.</p><p><strong>Methods:</strong> We used four waves of the UK Household Longitudinal Survey, a large representative sample, covering the period 2015 to 2020. We performed Propensity Score Matching to compare health outcomes of carers against non-carers and Latent Class Analysis to identify different typologies of unpaid carers.</p><p><strong>Results:</strong> We found that the relationship between care provision and physical health is complex, that effects on health may differ between the short and medium run, and that deprivation levels and unmet need for services play an important role.</p><p><strong>Conclusion:</strong> This research contributes original insights into our understanding of the impact of different care trajectories on the health of the carer taking into consideration the characteristics of care-recipients, the effect of unmet needs, and external factors. This is crucial both in relation to their ability to provide support and in terms of their own care needs and is therefore of direct relevance to policy and practice to support unpaid carers.</p> |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-11T01:03:19Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-988d560504cf49cb87b25fff5a49bc17 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2516-9122 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-11T01:03:19Z |
| publishDate | 2022-04-01 |
| publisher | LSE Press |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of Long-Term Care |
| spelling | doaj.art-988d560504cf49cb87b25fff5a49bc172023-01-04T15:00:30ZengLSE PressJournal of Long-Term Care2516-91222022-04-010202210.31389/jltc.12488Understanding Health Trajectories among Unpaid Carers in the United KingdomJaviera Cartagena Farias0Nicola Brimblecombe1London School of Economics (LSE)London School of Economics (LSE)<p><strong>Context:</strong> There is very little research on the impact of caring on physical health, and the evidence that exists is mixed. There is also lack of evidence on the role of other factors including both socio-economic factors and the role played by care services and unmet needs for such services.</p><p><strong>Aims:</strong> This study aims to understand the association between physical health outcomes among unpaid carers in the United Kingdom compared to individuals who have not provided unpaid care, and investigate what is the role that time, and unmet needs for care services play in this relationship.</p><p><strong>Methods:</strong> We used four waves of the UK Household Longitudinal Survey, a large representative sample, covering the period 2015 to 2020. We performed Propensity Score Matching to compare health outcomes of carers against non-carers and Latent Class Analysis to identify different typologies of unpaid carers.</p><p><strong>Results:</strong> We found that the relationship between care provision and physical health is complex, that effects on health may differ between the short and medium run, and that deprivation levels and unmet need for services play an important role.</p><p><strong>Conclusion:</strong> This research contributes original insights into our understanding of the impact of different care trajectories on the health of the carer taking into consideration the characteristics of care-recipients, the effect of unmet needs, and external factors. This is crucial both in relation to their ability to provide support and in terms of their own care needs and is therefore of direct relevance to policy and practice to support unpaid carers.</p>https://journal.ilpnetwork.org/articles/124physical healthinformal careunpaid careunmet care needspropensity score matchinglatent class analysis |
| spellingShingle | Javiera Cartagena Farias Nicola Brimblecombe Understanding Health Trajectories among Unpaid Carers in the United Kingdom Journal of Long-Term Care physical health informal care unpaid care unmet care needs propensity score matching latent class analysis |
| title | Understanding Health Trajectories among Unpaid Carers in the United Kingdom |
| title_full | Understanding Health Trajectories among Unpaid Carers in the United Kingdom |
| title_fullStr | Understanding Health Trajectories among Unpaid Carers in the United Kingdom |
| title_full_unstemmed | Understanding Health Trajectories among Unpaid Carers in the United Kingdom |
| title_short | Understanding Health Trajectories among Unpaid Carers in the United Kingdom |
| title_sort | understanding health trajectories among unpaid carers in the united kingdom |
| topic | physical health informal care unpaid care unmet care needs propensity score matching latent class analysis |
| url | https://journal.ilpnetwork.org/articles/124 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT javieracartagenafarias understandinghealthtrajectoriesamongunpaidcarersintheunitedkingdom AT nicolabrimblecombe understandinghealthtrajectoriesamongunpaidcarersintheunitedkingdom |