Journal
HEALTH & SOCIAL CARE IN THE COMMUNITY
Volume 30, Issue 5, Pages E3096-E3105Publisher
WILEY
DOI: 10.1111/hsc.13754
Keywords
65 plus; Europe; life satisfaction; SHARE; social participation; spouse caregivers
Funding
- Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation
- FCT/MCTES through National Funds (PIDDAC)
- European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) through the Operational Program PORNorte and PORLisboa [01/SAICT/2016, 022209]
- European Commission [QLK6-CT-2001-00360, SHARE-I3: RII-CT-2006-062193, COMPARE: CIT5-CT-2005-028857, SHARELIFE: CIT4-CT-2006-028812, 211909, 227822, 261982, 676536, 654221]
- DG Employment, Social Affairs Inclusion
- German Ministry of Education and Research
- Max Planck Society for the Advancement of Science
- U.S. National Institute on Aging [U01_AG09740-13S2, P01_AG005842, P01_AG08291, P30_AG12815, R21_AG025169, Y1-AG-4553-01, IAG_BSR06-11, OGHA_04-064, HHSN271201300071C]
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Research shows that spouse caregivers aged 65 and older report lower levels of life satisfaction, but social participation plays a positive role in enhancing their life satisfaction. This highlights the importance of social participation in influencing the life satisfaction of spouse caregivers.
Spouse caregivers report lower levels of life satisfaction. However, social participation generates life satisfaction. The main goal of this study is to analyse the contribution of social participation to the life satisfaction of European and Israeli spouse caregivers aged 65 plus. The study uses cross-sectional data from 17 European countries, plus Israel, which are part of wave 6 of the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE). The sample was limited to individuals aged 65+, who were classified as non-caregivers (N = 25,313) or spouse caregivers (N = 1977). The mean scores of life satisfaction by country and caregiver status were calculated and tests for a two-group comparison and multilevel logistic regressions were performed. The spouse caregiver group reported lower levels of satisfaction with life. Tests for a two-group comparison show that the group of spouse caregivers reports fewer social activities than the non-caregivers group. Moreover, multilevel linear regressions allowed us to conclude that providing spousal care at older ages (65+) is related to lower life satisfaction but that providing spousal care and reporting having social participation is related to higher life satisfaction than in the group of spouse caregivers who are not involved in social activities, and non-caregivers. Social participation is a key issue in the life satisfaction of spouse caregivers aged 65 years and older. The social participation of spouse caregivers should be a concern to relatives, communities, social and health professionals, as well as public policymakers.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available