Health and economic impact of family caregiving in India: Results from the study on global ageing

Research Objective: The need for family caregiving in India has been driven by the steady increase in older adults with chronic or disabling conditions. Caregiving exerts a tremendous toll on caregivers' health and financial security. The objective of this study was to examine the impact of family caregiving on caregivers' health and financial well-being associated with treatment costs and lost employment. Methods: Study on Global Ageing And Adult Health Wave-I survey data (2007-2010) were used in this study. Informal care giving was measured by a binary variable indicating whether a caregiver provided care or support in the areas of physical (household chores, transportation), emotional (social support, counseling), health (providing nursing help), and personal care (activities of daily living) to any adult household member. Outcome variable was an ordered categorical variable with 3 categories - mild, moderate, and severe, indicating difficulties in own health, managing treatment cost, and financial loss. Multivariate ordered logit models were estimated to examine the impact of each caregiving activity on caregivers' own health, treatment costs, and financial loss. Results: Multivariate results demonstrate that caregivers those who provided help with health care, personal care, and social support were more likely to experience extreme difficulty in managing own health and treatment costs. On the other hand, caregivers' financial loss was associated with proving help with health care and physical help. Conclusion: Caregiving support policies targeting health and economic impact of caregiving would likely to improve overall well-being of caregivers in India.