But at What Cost? Healthcare Utilization of Canadian Carer-Employees.

Int J Environ Res Public Health

Sprott School of Business, Carleton University, Ottawa, ON K1S 5B6, Canada.

Published: December 2024


Category Ranking

98%

Total Visits

921

Avg Visit Duration

2 minutes

Citations

20

Article Abstract

Caregiving plays a crucial role in aging societies by supporting individuals with chronic illnesses, disabilities, or aging-related needs. The unpaid labour provided by caregivers diverts healthcare resources from the formal healthcare system; however, this incurs costs to the caregivers themselves in terms of declines in personal wellbeing. This study explores the relationship between caregiving and healthcare spending for two groups of caregivers: eldercare only and sandwiched. We found that physician visits were the most common resource used by caregivers, at a mean of 3.69 (SD = 4.01) visits over a 6-month period, excluding non-users of this service. This was followed by mental health services (M = 5.86, SD = 7.02), emergency room visits (M = 1.77, SD = 1.38), and hospital admissions (M = 3.61, SD = 8.53). There were no significant differences in healthcare utilization between eldercare and sandwiched caregivers. There were mixed results regarding characteristics associated with greater resource use; however, the hours of weekly caregiving were most consistently associated with greater healthcare utilization, indicating that healthcare use may increase with care burden.

Download full-text PDF

Source
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11675624PMC
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph21121686DOI Listing

Publication Analysis

Top Keywords

healthcare utilization
12
eldercare sandwiched
8
associated greater
8
healthcare
6
caregivers
5
cost? healthcare
4
utilization canadian
4
canadian carer-employees
4
carer-employees caregiving
4
caregiving plays
4

Similar Publications

Complexity and Health Care Utilization in Infant ESKD.

Kidney360

September 2025

Department of Pediatrics, Division of Pediatric Nephrology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, United States.

Background: Dialysis in neonates with ESKD is often associated with multiple comorbidities and the need for more intensified dialysis regimens. With recent advances in prenatal interventions and infant specific KRT, survival of neonates with ESKD has improved over the last decade. Little is known however about the impact on the health care system of improved survival in this population.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Importance: Patients with advanced cancer frequently receive broad-spectrum antibiotics, but changing use patterns across the end-of-life trajectory remain poorly understood.

Objective: To describe the patterns of broad-spectrum antibiotic use across defined end-of-life intervals in patients with advanced cancer.

Design, Setting, And Participants: This nationwide, population-based, retrospective cohort study used data from the South Korean National Health Insurance Service database to examine broad-spectrum antibiotic use among patients with advanced cancer who died between July 1, 2002, and December 31, 2021.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Importance: Advances in diagnostics have enabled the detection of more gastrointestinal pathogens, but misuse of diagnostics can lead to inappropriate antibiotic use and excess financial burdens. Ensuring appropriate use of diagnostics is crucial for optimizing patient care and promoting stewardship of health care resources.

Objective: To elicit parents' and clinicians' perspectives on expectations for care of pediatric diarrhea with a focus on diagnostic testing and to evaluate the potential for an electronic clinical decision support tool (ECDST) to improve appropriate use of diagnostics.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Indigenous Peoples experience the highest age-adjusted prevalence of type 2 diabetes of any racial group in the U.S. Though the management of type 2 diabetes requires regular healthcare visits, North American Indigenous individuals with diabetes do not always utilize the healthcare available to them, and this lack of utilization may lead to poor health outcomes over time.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The incorporation of AI-supported language models into the healthcare sector holds significant potential to revolutionize nursing education, research, and clinical practice. Within this framework, ChatGPT has emerged as a valuable tool for personalizing educational materials, enhancing academic productivity, expediting clinical decision-making processes, and optimizing research efficiency. In the realm of nursing education, ChatGPT offers numerous advantages, including the preparation of course content, facilitation of student assessments, and the development of simulation-based learning environments.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF