How does long-term care impact the psychological wellbeing of older adults in different care policy contexts in the Netherlands? A comparison of 1998, 2008 and 2018

Research output: Contribution to JournalArticleAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

Receipt of long-term care (LTC) is generally associated with worse psychological wellbeing for community-dwelling older adults. In addition to objective features of care use (e.g. formal vs. informal care), the subjective evaluation of care provision in terms of perceived sufficiency might be particularly predictive of one's wellbeing but is seldomly considered in the literature. Substantial changes in the availability of long-term care in past decades raise the question to what extent these effects, if present, are consistent over historic time. The present study, therefore, aims at better understanding the associations between types of LTC use and perceived care sufficiency on psychological wellbeing in a changing LTC context in the Netherlands. Data from the Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam (LASA) were used from three points in time: 1998 (N = 582), 2008 (N = 459) and 2018 (N = 415). At each wave, participants were between 75 and 85 years of age and living independently. The results show that after adjusting for age, gender, education and health, using formal LTC had a negative effect on depressive symptoms only in 2018, but that this effect was not significantly worse compared to previous cohorts. Perceived care sufficiency was consistently negatively associated with depressive symptoms in all three points in time. This suggests that despite a less generous Dutch LTC system, psychological wellbeing among LTC users remains stable. Perceiving care provision as sufficient, however, can help older adults maintain psychological wellbeing and should be considered by researchers and policymakers that aim to improve care recipients’ wellbeing.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)e2750-e2760
Number of pages11
JournalHealth and Social Care in the Community
Volume30
Issue number5
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 17 Jan 2022

Funding

This research project is financed by an Open Research Area grant from the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (ORA 464.18.106) The Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam is supported by a grant from the Netherlands Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport, Directorate of Long‐Term Care. This research project is financed by an Open Research Area grant from the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (ORA 464.18.106) The Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam is supported by a grant from the Netherlands Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport, Directorate of Long-Term Care.

FundersFunder number
Netherlands Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport
Netherlands Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport, Directorate of Long-Term Care
Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk OnderzoekORA 464.18.106

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