Professors Denise Gastaldo, Carles Muntaner and Elizabeth Peter
The Carlos III Health Institute in Spain has awarded Bloomberg Nursing professors Denise Gastaldo, Carles Muntaner, Elizabeth Peter and their Spanish co-investigators (PI Dr. Andreu Bover) a grant to explore the impact of recent health policy changes on home caregivers.
Since 2006, Spain implemented policies, such as the Law of Dependence and Law of Equality, to create a balance between generational and gender inequalities by providing better long-term care support and requiring equal treatment for men and women. At present, the delivery of formal and informal homecare is a major social challenge as the country is comprised of a high proportion of senior citizens. Although the family was traditionally the leading provider of caregiving at home, significant social changes in recent years may make it so caregiving for dependents will be compromised in the future.
The research’s objective is to analyze the perceived impact of these policy changes on the health and caregiving practices of male and female home caregivers in the current context of an economic crisis and austerity in social spending. The results of the study, titled “Caregiving support and equity policies: Perceived impact among male and female home caregivers from 3 generations in Mallorca,” will be disseminated to community groups, policy makers, health and social care professionals, and academics.
The Institute of Health Carlos III (Instituto de Salud Carlos III) is a scientific support organisation to the National Health System, a public research centre and funding agency. Its main goals are to provide scientific and technical support to the National Health System and coordinate health research in Spain.