Verbakel Ellen, Tamlagsrønning Stian, Winstone Lizzy, Fjær Erlend L, Eikemo Terje A
Department of Sociology, Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
Department of Sociology and Political Science, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway.
Eur J Public Health. 2017 Feb 1;27(suppl_1):90-95. doi: 10.1093/eurpub/ckw229.
Against the background of a rising demand for informal care in European societies, this study sets out to provide descriptive information by gender on (i) prevalence rates of (intensive) informal caregiving, (ii) characteristics of (intensive) informal caregivers and (iii) consequences of (intensive) informal caregiving in terms of mental well-being.
On average, 34.3% of the population in 20 European countries were informal caregivers and 7.6% were intensive caregivers (providing care for minimum 11 h a week). Countries with high numbers of caregivers had low numbers of intensive caregivers. Caregiving was most prevalent among women, 50–59 year olds, non-employed—especially those doing housework—and religious persons. Determinants of providing care hardly differed by gender. Caregivers, especially female and intensive caregivers, reported lower mental well-being than non-caregivers.
Our results suggest support for both crowding-in and crowding-out effects of the welfare state. Middle-aged women may become increasingly time squeezed as they are likely to be the first to respond to higher demands for informal care, while they are also the major target groups in employment policies aiming for increased labour market participation. Caregivers, and especially female and intensive caregivers, report lower levels of mental well-being. Supportive policies such as respite care or training and counselling may therefore be needed in order to sustain informal care as an important resource of our health care systems.
在欧洲社会对非正式护理需求不断上升的背景下，本研究旨在按性别提供关于以下方面的描述性信息：（i）（高强度）非正式护理的患病率，（ii）（高强度）非正式护理人员的特征，以及（iii）（高强度）非正式护理对心理健康的影响。
平均而言，20个欧洲国家中34.3%的人口是非正式护理人员，7.6%是高强度护理人员（每周提供至少11小时的护理）。护理人员数量多的国家，高强度护理人员数量少。护理在女性、50 - 59岁、未就业者（尤其是从事家务的人）和宗教人士中最为普遍。提供护理的决定因素在性别上差异不大。护理人员，尤其是女性和高强度护理人员，报告的心理健康水平低于非护理人员。
我们的结果表明，福利国家存在挤出效应和挤入效应。中年女性可能会越来越感到时间紧迫，因为她们可能是最先响应更高非正式护理需求的人群，同时她们也是旨在提高劳动力市场参与度的就业政策的主要目标群体。护理人员，尤其是女性和高强度护理人员，报告的心理健康水平较低。因此，可能需要诸如临时护理或培训及咨询等支持性政策，以维持非正式护理作为我们医疗保健系统的重要资源。
