Blackberry I, Boak J, Barclay K, Khalil H
Care Economy Research Institute, La Trobe University, Albury-Wodonga, VIC, Australia.
John Richards Centre for Rural Ageing Research, La Trobe Rural Health School, La Trobe University, Albury-Wodonga, VIC, Australia.
Front Public Health. 2025 May 14;13:1540009. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2025.1540009. eCollection 2025.
The care economy gained its prominence during the COVID-19 pandemic. The value and impact of caregiving, mostly shouldered by women, was not as visible until such crisis point. Health care and social support sectors represent the largest and fastest growing industry globally. This scoping review aims to elucidate the current state of play in the care economy, where there is a great reliance on informal and formal care workforce to deliver care for populations across all age groups and abilities.
Following Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) methodology and PRISMA-SCR reporting guidance, we searched MEDLINE, Embase, CINAHL, PsycINFO, Campbell collaboration database, Social Science Abstracts, Library and Information Science Abstracts (LISA) and Scopus. Quantitative and qualitative original research on disability, aged care, early childhood education and care, rural, veterans, migrants and informal and formal care workforce from January 2018 until November 2023 were examined.
Of 354 studies selected, 20% were from the United States of America, 11% each were from China and the United Kingdom. Most studies employed cross-sectional design. A quarter of the studies included adults aged 65 years and above while 6% were adults aged 18 to 64 years. These age groups combined were included in an additional 27% of studies. Women were overrepresented in 70% of the studies. Nearly two-thirds of caregivers were spouses or partners. Barriers to providing care were lack of education, support and monitoring of caregiver well-being, loss of income or ability to earn money, reduced social life and increased out-of-pocket costs. Gaps in research included migrant populations' contribution to the care economy, gender and diversity inequality in the care economy. The care economy could be improved through providing education for caregivers, care workforce engaging with caregivers in the care plan, and governments' overhaul of compensation for caregivers through direct financial support and employment benefits.
The care economy is an emerging research area. There continues to be a paucity of research evidence across some geographical areas. Studies are mostly short term or small scale with very little evidence around the value of care. Given the growing aging population, more research is needed to elucidate the positive aspects of caring by formal and informal care workforce to the population, society and economy.
The protocol is registered with Open Science Framework (10.17605). "Definitions, key themes and aspects of the care economy-a scoping review protocol," https://osf.io/ypmuh.
护理经济在新冠疫情期间受到了广泛关注。护理工作的价值和影响，主要由女性承担，直到危机时刻才变得明显。医疗保健和社会支持部门是全球最大且增长最快的行业。本综述旨在阐明护理经济的现状，在这一领域，为所有年龄组和能力的人群提供护理严重依赖非正式和正式护理人员。
遵循乔安娜·布里格斯研究所（JBI）的方法和PRISMA-SCR报告指南，我们检索了MEDLINE、Embase、CINAHL、PsycINFO、坎贝尔协作数据库、社会科学文摘、图书馆与信息科学文摘（LISA）和Scopus。对2018年1月至2023年11月期间关于残疾、老年护理、幼儿教育与护理、农村、退伍军人、移民以及非正式和正式护理人员的定量和定性原始研究进行了审查。
在筛选出的354项研究中，20%来自美国，中国和英国各占11%。大多数研究采用横断面设计。四分之一的研究纳入了65岁及以上的成年人，6%的研究纳入了18至64岁的成年人。这两个年龄组合计又被纳入了27%的研究。70%的研究中女性占比过高。近三分之二的护理人员是配偶或伴侣。提供护理的障碍包括缺乏教育、对护理人员福祉的支持和监测、收入或赚钱能力的丧失、社交生活减少以及自付费用增加。研究空白包括移民人口对护理经济的贡献、护理经济中的性别和多样性不平等。通过为护理人员提供教育、护理人员在护理计划中与护理对象互动以及政府通过直接财政支持和就业福利对护理人员薪酬进行全面改革，可以改善护理经济。
护理经济是一个新兴的研究领域。一些地理区域的研究证据仍然匮乏。研究大多是短期或小规模的，关于护理价值的证据很少。鉴于人口老龄化加剧，需要更多研究来阐明正式和非正式护理人员的护理工作对人口、社会和经济的积极方面。
该方案已在开放科学框架（10.17605）注册。“护理经济的定义、关键主题和方面——一项范围综述方案”，https://osf.io/ypmuh 。
