IN-CARE How are varying care systems associated with inequalities in care and wellbeing in later life?

老龄化社会和许多欧洲国家最近对长期护理（LTC）的改革可能会使亲属和非亲属的非正式护理对满足老年人的护理需求越来越重要。迄今为止，尚不清楚非正规护理是否不成比例地落在弱势群体身上，对护理接受者及其护理者的福祉的影响也知之甚少。拟议的研究考察了长期医疗服务改革是否以及如何加剧了护理、护理者和护理接受者福利方面现有的社会差距。为此，该项目比较了欧洲和日本正规和非正规护理的社会经济地位梯度及其对福祉的影响。这一目标是a)在背景下（具有不同护理系统的国家和地区之间以及随着时间的推移在国家内部）使用一套更新的长期医疗保健政策指标进行研究的；B)从接受照护者和非正式照护者的角度；C)通过注重护理质量；d)开展政策评价自然实验。更好地了解不同护理政策对护理不平等的影响，以及照顾者和受照顾者的福祉，将为有关未来政策决定的潜在影响的辩论提供信息。项目小组结合了长期合作安排、非正式护理方面的专业知识，以及从人口、社会学、老年学、流行病学和卫生经济角度进行的跨国分析。

Ageing societies and recent reforms to long-term care (LTC) in many European countries are likely to make informal care by kin and nonkin increasingly critical for fulfilling the care needs of older people. To date, it is unknown whether informal care falls disproportionately on disadvantaged populations, and the consequences for the wellbeing of care recipients and their carers are poorly understood. The proposed research examines if and how LTC reforms exacerbate existing social disparities in care and in caregiver and care recipient wellbeing. To this end, this project compares the socioeconomic status (SES) gradient in formal and informal care and its impact on wellbeing across Europe and Japan. This objective is studied a) in context (across nations and regions with different care systems and within countries over time) using an updated set of indicators of LTC policies; b) from the perspectives of both the care recipient and the informal caregiver; c) through a focus on quality of care; and d) by carrying out policy evaluation natural experiments. A better understanding of the consequences of different care policies for inequalities in care, and caregiver and care recipient wellbeing, will inform debate on the potential impact of future policy decisions. The project team combines expertise on LTC arrangements, informal care, and cross-national analyses from demographic, sociological, gerontological, epidemiological and health economic perspectives.