Migrant care workers as protective factor against caregiver burden: results from a longitudinal analysis of the EUROFAMCARE study in Italy

Objective. The aim of the analysis is to assess the impact of privately employed Migrant Care Workers (MCWs) on the burden of Italian family members who are caring for a disabled older person. Methods. EUROFAMCARE is a one-year prospective survey carried out to provide evidence on the availability and use of support services by family carers of older people in Europe. In Italy, 990 family caregivers were enrolled and successful follow-ups were completed for 863 subjects. The survey assessed also the level of caregiver burden using the COPE index, which has three sub-sections: “Positive Value”(-PV), “Quality of Support”(-QS) and “Negative Impact”(-NI). We used the one-year change of the COPE-NI as dependent variable and we realised multilevel regression models to estimate the longitudinal predictors of caregivers’ burden increase. Results. At cross-sectional level, the most burdened caregivers are those caring for a demented relative (COPE-NI=13.6), with no educational title (14.5) and looking after their own spouses (15.1). Longitudinally those employing a MCW are significantly protected against burden increase (regression coefficient:-1.52;p<0.01) while those who cannot rely on the support of other family members are exposed to the risk of burden increase (0.991;p