Differences of Subjective Well-Being in European Long-term Care Regimes
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5708/EJMH/17.2022.1.1Keywords:
SHARE, CASP-12, LTC, quality of life, social careAbstract
Introduction: With the increase of life expectancy, the issue of quality of life (QoL) for the elderly is getting more focus. Beside the individual view, social and economic aspects are becoming more pronounced.
Aims: In this study, we set out to establish a new classification of long-term care (LTC) regimes by examining the relationship between care systems and subjective quality of life.
Methods: Our work was based on data from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe through a secondary analysis of CASP-12 results. It was assumed that higher quality of life values could be observed in countries providing a higher standard of social care. We studied the background variables in different LTC regimes.
Results: The data shows that the development and availability of care systems have a significant indirect correlation with older people’s subjective well-being. Our results raise the possibility of a new subdivision of care regimes.
Conclusions: Those countries featured earlier as family-based systems and Central-Eastern European countries were growing closer to each other in this classification. As our statistical method proved, family-based and Central-Eastern European regimes are not significantly different (Minimisers). Northern countries, where investment and quality of life are also high, remain highly positioned on the scale (Maximisers). Countries that have medium-level investments and subjective well-being parameters place in the middle of the scale (Optimisers). Global changes (climate, migration, political culture, technology) are expected to have an effect on social care regimes, especially on Minimisers, where the realization or failure of investments is a critical question.
References
Blane, D., Netuveli, G., & Bartley, M. (2007). Does quality of life at older ages vary with socio-economic position? Sociology, 41(4), 717–726.
https://doi.org/10.1177/0038038507078927
Börsch-Supan, A., & Jürges, H. (Eds.). (2005). The survey of health, aging, and retirement in Europe – Methodology. Mannheim Research Institute for the Economics of Aging.
Carrera, F., Pavolini, E., Ranci, C., & Sabbatini, A. (2013). Long-term care systems in comparative perspective: Care needs, informal and formal coverage, and social impacts in European countries. In C. Ranci, & E. Pavolini (Eds.), Reforms in long-term care policies in Europe. Springer, New York, 23–52.
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-4502-9_2
De la Maisonneuve, C., & Martins, J. O. (2015). The future of health and long-term care spending. OECD Journal: Economic Studies, 2014(1), 61–96.
https://doi.org/10.1787/eco_studies-2014-5jz0v44s66nw
Diener, E. (1984). Subjective Well-Being. Psychological Bulletin, 95(3), 542–575.
https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.95.3.542
Eurostat (2015). Online data code: hlth_sha_11_hp.
https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/images/9/95/Long-term_care_expenditure%2C_2015_FP18.png
Eurostat (2019). Ageing Europe – Looking at the lives of older people in the EU.
https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/products-statistical-books/-/KS-02-19-681
Fekete, M., Szabo, A., Stephens, C., & Alpass, F. (2019). Older New Zealanders in caregiving roles: Psychological functioning of caregivers of people living with dementia. Dementia, 18(5), 1663–1678.
https://doi.org/10.1177/1471301217725897
Geerts, J., Willemé, P., & Mot, E. (Eds.). (2012). Long-term care use and supply in Europe: Projections for Germany, The Netherlands, Spain and Poland (ENEPRI Research Report No. 116).
http://aei.pitt.edu/34721/1/RR_No_116__ANCIEN_WP6__Projecting_LTC_Use_&_Supply.pdf
Gilleard, C., Hyde, M., & Higgs, P. (2007). The impact of age, place, aging in place and attachment to place of the well-being of the over 50s in England. Research on Aging, 29(6), 590–605.
https://doi.org/10.1177/0164027507305730
Higgs, P., Hyde, M., Wiggins, R., & Blane, D. (2003). Researching quality of life in early old age: The importance of the sociological dimension. Social Policy & Administration, 37(3), 239–252.
https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9515.00336
Hüse, L., Huszti, E., Toldine, B. A., & Takacs, P. (2016). Elements of the elderly’s subjective well-being: An international comparison focusing on the member countries of the Visegrad group. Kontakt, 18(3), 184–193.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.kontakt.2016.07.005
Hyde, M., Wiggins, R. D., Higgs, P., & Blane, D. B. (2003). A measure of quality of life in early old age: The theory, development and properties of a needs satisfaction model (CASP-19), Aging & Mental Health, 7(3), 186–194.
https://doi.org/10.1080/1360786031000101157
Jackson, N. (2007). Population ageing in a nutshell: A phenomenon in four dimensions. People and Place, 15(2), 12–21.
Jivraj, S., Nazroo, J., Vanhoutte, B., & Chandola, T. (2014). Aging and subjective well-being in later life. The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, 69(6), 930–941.
https://doi.org/10.1093/geronb/gbu006
Knesebeck, O., Wahrendorf, M., Hyde, M., & Siegrist, J. (2007). Socio-economic position and quality of life among older people in 10 European countries: Results of the SHARE study. Ageing & Society, 27(2), 269–284.
https://doi.org/10.1017/S0144686X06005484
Kraus, M., Riedel, M., Mot, E., Willemé, P., Rohrling, G., & Czypionka, T. (2011). A typology of long-term care systems in Europe. (ENEPRI Research Report No. 91). Centre for European Policy Studies.
https://www.ceps.eu/ceps-publications/typology-long-term-care-systems-europe/
Kubalčíková, K., & Havlíková, J. (2016). Current developments in social care services for older adults in the Czech Republic: Trends towards deinstitutionalisation and marketization. Journal of Social Service Research, 42(2), 180–198.
https://doi.org/10.1080/01488376.2015.1129014
Lamura, G., Mnich, E., Nolan, M., Wojszel, B., Krevers, B., Mestheneos, L., & Döhner, H. (2008). Family carers’ experiences using support services in Europe: Empirical evidence from the EUROFAMCARE Study. The Gerontologist, 48(6), 752–771.
https://doi.org/10.1093/geront/48.6.752
Leichsenring K., & Schulmann, K. (Eds.). (2016). Potentials for social innovation in social support and long-term care. A series of Policy Papers (MoPAct Report, #8.4). European Centre for Social Welfare Policy and Research.
https://mopact.group.shef.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/D8.4-FUSCEN.pdf
Marmot, M. (2010). Fair society, healthy lives. Strategic review of health inequalities in England post-2010. The Marmot Review.
http://www.parliament.uk/documents/fair-society-healthy-lives-full-report.pdf
Niedzwiedz, C. L., Katikireddi, S. V., Pell, J. P., & Mitchell, R. (2014). Socioeconomic inequalities in the quality of life of older Europeans in different welfare regimes. European Journal of Public Health, 24(3), 364–70.
https://doi.org/10.1093/eurpub/cku017
Niedzwiedz, C. L., Pell, J. P., & Mitchell, R. (2015). The relationship between financial distress and life-course socioeconomic inequalities in well-being: Cross-national analysis of European welfare states. American Journal of Public Health, 105(10), 2090–2098.
https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2015.302722
Nies, H., Leichsenring, K., & Mak, S. (2013). The emerging identity of long-term care in Europe. In K. Leichsenring, J. Billings, & H. Nies (Eds.), Long-term care in Europe - Improving policy and practice. Palgrave Macmillan, 19–41.
https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137032348_2
Nussbaum, M., & Sen, A. (Eds.). (1993). The quality of life. Clarendon Press.
OECD (2013). OECD Guidelines on measuring subjective well-being. OECD Publishing.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/9789264191655-en
OECD (2021). OECD Health Statistics 2021 Definitions, Sources and Methods.
https://stats.oecd.org/Index.aspx?QueryId=30140
Ogg, J. (2005). Social exclusion and insecurity among older Europeans: The influence of welfare regimes. Ageing and Society, 25(1), 69–90. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0144686X04002788
Scharf, T., Phillipson, C., & Smith, A. E. (2005). Social exclusion of older people in deprived urban communities of England. European Journal of Ageing, 2(2), 76–87. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10433-005-0025-6
Srakar, A., Hrast, F. M., Hlebec, V., & Majcen, B. (2015). Social exclusion, welfare regime long-term need: evidence from SHARE. In A. Börsch-Supan, T. Kneip, H. Litwin, M. Myck., & G. Weber (Eds.), Ageing in Europe – Supporting policies for an inclusive society. De Gruyter.
Szabo, A., Allen, J., Alpass, F., & Stephens, C. (2018). Longitudinal trajectories of quality of life and depression by housing tenure status. The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, 73(8), 165–174.
https://doi.org/10.1093/geronb/gbx028
Stiglitz, J. E., Sen, A., & Fitoussi, J.-P. (2009). Report by the commission on the measurement of economic performance and social progress. https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/documents/8131721/8131772/Stiglitz-Sen-Fitoussi-Commission-report.pdf
Townsend, P. (1979). Poverty in the United Kingdom. Penguin Books.
Valarino, I., Meil, G., & Rogero-García, J. (2018). Family or state responsibility? Elderly- and childcare policy preferences in Spain. International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy, 38(11–12), 1101–1115.
https://doi.org/10.1108/IJSSP-06-2018-0086
Webb, E., Blane, D., McMunn, A., & Netuveli, G. (2011). ‘Proximal predictors of change in quality of life at older ages. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, 65(6), 542–547.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/jech.2009.101758
Wilkinson, R. G. (1996). Unhealthy societies: The afflictions of inequality (1st ed.). Routledge.
