Social participation and health outcomes among caregivers and non-caregivers in Great Britain

Abstract

This study investigates the relationship between social participation and health outcomes between caregivers and non-caregivers in Great Britain. Previous studies indicate that the impact of informal caregiving on the carer’s health is complex, and the intensity of care provision have an adverse impact on the caregivers’ health, while social participation could have a protective role in this respect. Using qualitative and quantitative data from wave 8 of the 1958 National Child Development Study, the analysis shows that social participation has a positive effect on the carers’ mental health and subjective wellbeing. Individuals who did not engage in social participation reported lower level of mental health and CASP than those engaged in social participation. The qualitative results showed the barriers to social participation of caregivers to be time, energy and finance. We discuss ways in which the government could address such barriers to improve the level of social participation among caregivers.

More information

Identifiers

ORCID for Athina Vlachantoni: orcid.org/0000-0003-1539-3057

ORCID for Ning Wang: orcid.org/0000-0002-3086-311X

ORCID for Maria Evandrou: orcid.org/0000-0002-2115-9358

Catalogue record

Export record

Altmetrics