The Impact of COVID-19 on the Health and Experience of the Carers of Older Family Members Living with Dementia: An Italian–Hungarian Comparative Study

László Árpád Kostyál, Zsuzsa Széman, Virág Erzsébet Almási, Paolo Fabbietti, Sabrina Quattrini, Marco Socci and Cristina Gagliardi
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László Árpád Kostyál: Institute of Mental Health, Semmelweis University, P.O. Box 2, 1428 Budapest, Hungary
Zsuzsa Széman: Institute of Mental Health, Semmelweis University, P.O. Box 2, 1428 Budapest, Hungary
Virág Erzsébet Almási: Independent Researcher, 1191 Budapest, Hungary
Paolo Fabbietti: Unit of Geriatric Pharmacoepidemiology and Biostatistics, IRCCS INRCA-National Institute of Health and Science on Ageing, Via Santa Margherita 5, 60124 Ancona, Italy
Sabrina Quattrini: Centre for Socio-Economic Research on Ageing, IRCCS INRCA-National Institute of Health and Science on Ageing, Via Santa Margherita 5, 60124 Ancona, Italy
Marco Socci: Centre for Socio-Economic Research on Ageing, IRCCS INRCA-National Institute of Health and Science on Ageing, Via Santa Margherita 5, 60124 Ancona, Italy
Cristina Gagliardi: Centre for Socio-Economic Research on Ageing, IRCCS INRCA-National Institute of Health and Science on Ageing, Via Santa Margherita 5, 60124 Ancona, Italy

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 9, 1-29

Abstract: This quantitative study ( n = 370) compares the pandemic-related experiences of the family carers of older people living with dementia during the first wave of the pandemic, in two countries with different care regimes: Italy (Mediterranean) and Hungary (Eastern European). It aims at answering the following research questions: (1) How did the pandemic affect the subjective health of carers, and what were their experiences with care-related worries and workload? (2) What factors significantly predicted negative changes in these experiences? (3) What were carers’ main difficulties during the first pandemic wave? Results have shown that carers in both samples reported a worsening in mental health (Italy/Hungary: M = 2.25/2.55, SD = 0.93/0.99), and Italian carers also in general health (M = 2.54, SD = 0.98) (on a scale of 1 to 5, with values under “3” representing deterioration). Carers in both samples experienced high worry levels (Italy/Hungary: M = 4.2/3.7, SD = 0.93/0.89) and feeling overwhelmed with care tasks (M = 3.2/3.7, SD = 1.3/1.3) (on a scale of 1 to 5, higher values representing higher worry/work overload). In regression models, all of the above negative experiences were predicted by a combination of factors. Two of these factors stood out in importance due to being a predictor of more than one type of negative experience: a decline in the carer–care receiver relationship, predicting work overload, as well as general and mental health deterioration and being the child of the care receiver, predicting both high worry and subjective work overload. The top five encountered problems were the unavailability of medical and social care, difficulties with shopping (medicine included), restricted freedom, isolation, and anxiety.

Keywords: COVID-19; family carers/caregivers; older people; dementia; care; comparative study; support services; care needs (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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