Schmidt Andrea E, Ilinca Stefania, Schulmann Katharine, Rodrigues Ricardo, Principi Andrea, Barbabella Francesco, Sowa Agnieszka, Golinowska Stanislawa, Deeg Dorly, Galenkamp Henrike
European Centre for Social Welfare Policy and Research, Vienna, Austria.
National Institute of Health and Science on Ageing (INRCA), Ancona, Italy.
Eur J Ageing. 2016 Apr 23;13(2):103-113. doi: 10.1007/s10433-016-0373-4. eCollection 2016 Jun.
Due to an increased prevalence of chronic diseases, older individuals may experience a deterioration of their health condition in older ages, limiting their capacity for social engagement and in turn their well-being in later life. Focusing on care provision to grandchildren and (older) relatives ('informal care') as forms of engagement, this paper aims to identify which individual characteristics may compensate for health deficits and enable individuals with multimorbidity to provide informal care. We use data from the SHARE survey (2004-2012) for individuals aged 60 years and above in 10 European countries. Logistic regression estimates for the impact of different sets of characteristics on the decision to provide care are presented separately for people with and without multimorbidity. Adapting Arber and Ginn's resource theory, we expected that older caregivers' resources (e.g., income or having a spouse) would facilitate informal care provision to a greater extent for people with multimorbidity compared to those without multimorbidity, but this result was not confirmed. While care provision rates are lower among individuals suffering from chronic conditions, the factors associated with caregiving for the most part do not differ significantly between the two groups. Results, however, hint at reciprocal intergenerational support patterns within families, as the very old with multimorbidity are more likely to provide care than those without multimorbidity. Also, traditional gender roles for women are likely to be weakened in the presence of health problems, as highlighted by a lack of gender differences in care provision among people with multimorbidity.
由于慢性病患病率上升，老年人在老年时可能会出现健康状况恶化，限制他们的社会参与能力，进而影响他们晚年的幸福感。本文聚焦于将照顾孙辈和（年长）亲属（“非正式照顾”）作为参与形式，旨在确定哪些个体特征可以弥补健康缺陷，并使患有多种疾病的个体能够提供非正式照顾。我们使用了来自SHARE调查（2004 - 2012年）的数据，该数据涵盖了10个欧洲国家60岁及以上的个体。对于患有和未患有多种疾病的人群，分别给出了不同特征集对提供照顾决策影响的逻辑回归估计。借鉴阿伯和吉恩的资源理论，我们预期与未患有多种疾病的人相比，患有多种疾病的老年人的资源（如收入或有配偶）在更大程度上会促进非正式照顾的提供，但这一结果未得到证实。虽然患有慢性病的个体提供照顾的比例较低，但两组之间与照顾相关的因素在很大程度上没有显著差异。然而，结果暗示了家庭内部代际相互支持的模式，因为患有多种疾病的高龄老人比未患有多种疾病的老人更有可能提供照顾。此外，正如患有多种疾病的人群在提供照顾方面缺乏性别差异所凸显的那样，在存在健康问题的情况下，传统的女性性别角色可能会被削弱。
