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。到目前为止，不清楚非正规护理福尔斯是否过多地落在弱势群体身上，也不清楚对接受护理者及其护理者的福祉造成的后果。拟议的研究探讨长期护理改革是否以及如何加剧现有的社会差距，在照顾和照顾者和接受照顾者的福祉。为此，该项目比较了正式和非正式护理的社会经济地位（SES）梯度及其对欧洲和日本福祉的影响。这一目标的研究是：a）在背景下（在不同护理系统的国家和地区以及在一段时间内的国家内），使用一套最新的长期护理政策指标; B）从护理接受者和非正式护理者的角度; c）通过关注护理质量; d）通过开展政策评估自然实验。更好地了解不同护理政策对护理不平等的后果，以及护理人员和护理接受者的福祉，将为关于未来政策决定潜在影响的辩论提供信息。该项目小组结合了长期护理安排、非正式护理以及从人口学、社会学、老年学、流行病学和卫生经济学角度进行的跨国分析方面的专门知识。

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.