Older adults’ contribution to informal caregiving: temporal trends, profiles and adverse health consequences

The project aims to provide evidence on the magnitude of older people’s contribution to informal caregiving and to gain knowledge of their particular health needs, through three research lines.

The first research line will analyse temporal trends in informal and formal care reception and provision during the last three decades, with a focus on older people as informal care providers. The second will explore the association between caregiving in old age and negative health outcomes and potential underlying factors. The third will identify older caregivers most susceptible to being negatively affected by caregiving, and the stage when such consequences tend to occur.

Based on data from three population-based cohorts (Swedish National study of Aging and Care; Swedish Panel Study of Living Conditions of the Oldest Old; Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe-Sweden) and an ad-hoc nationwide survey, we will map, integrate and track the characteristics of caregivers, care recipients, and care contexts.

The timely implementation of the findings will be guaranteed by a multidisciplinary group of experts covering the fields of geriatric epidemiology (Amaia Calderón-Larrañaga and Lucas Morin), geriatric medicine (Anders Wimo), and gerontology (Lena Dahlberg and Elizabeth Hanson), who occupy highly relevant positions across key Swedish institutions with competences in the field of informal care, such as the Swedish Family Care Competence Centre (Nka).

This will be essential to adapt supportive services to the actual needs of older caregivers and prevent their health from being negatively impacted.

Researchers participating in the project

Amaia Calderón-Larrañaga, Lucas Morin, Anders Wimo, Lena Dahlberg, Elizabeth Hanson.

Timeline

2022-01-01 to 2024-12-31.