Choice and wellbeing in informal care

‘Choice’ is increasingly pursued as a goal of social policy. However the degree to which choice is exercised when entering an informal care role is open to debate. In this study of UK carers, we examined whether caring was perceived as a free choice, and what the consequence of choice was for carers’ wellbeing. Our data were derived from responses to a postal survey conducted in a large British city. One thousand one hundred respondents reported providing care to a close person and of these, 72% answered a further set of questions about caregiving and about their own well-being. We found that informal care was generally perceived to be a free choice, albeit in most cases, a choice that was constrained by duty, financial or social resources. Having a sense of free choice in entering care was strongly and positively associated with wellbeing. The positive impact on wellbeing persisted across different measures of wellbeing and when controlling for socio-demographic characteristics and the nature of the caring role. Further work is needed to better understand the modifiable aspects of choice for carers. Nonetheless, this study suggests that enabling individuals to have more choice in their caring roles may improve their lives

Riboflavin and Oral Epithelium

There is conflicting evidence as to the role of riboflavin in cancer. Riboflavin deficiency has been demonstrated to be both a protective factor and potentiating factor in experimental carcinogenesis. In human studies, riboflavin deficiency has been linked to oesophageal cancer, although there is little in the literature regarding the effects of riboflavin deficiency on the oral mucosa. This thesis examines the effects of riboflavin deficiency on the oral epithelium Chapter 1 is a review of riboflavin, its sources, functions, metabolism and measurement and the effects of riboflavin deficiency, particularly its role in cancer. It was decided to attempt to induce riboflavin deficiency in the hamster. This animal was chosen with a view to using the frequently used hamster cheek pouch model of experimental oral carcinogenesis in subsequent studies. Chapter 2 describes the method of bleeding of the hamsters and verification that testing of riboflavin levels was possible on the small sample size available. Optimisation of the erythrocyte glutathione reductase test for hamster blood is described. The biochemical criteria for assessing the presence of riboflavin deficiency in the hamster were determined. Chapter 3 describes the induction of riboflavin deficiency in a group of hamsters together with biochemical monitoring of their riboflavin status. Compartment and cell analysis of the lingual epithelium was undertaken. A number of difficulties were encountered in the experiment. Firstly, both experimental and control hamsters suffered from gastro-enteritis (wet tail) and several subsequently died, reducing the numbers available for analysis. Analysis of the riboflavin content of the diet indicated that the difference between the experimental and control diets was less than expected. In Chapter 4 the problems which were met and possible avenues for future research are discussed

Workplace wellbeing programmes and their impact on employees and their employing organisations: a scoping review of the evidence base

This report constitutes a scoping literature review that identifies and critically examines the evidence base surrounding health and wellbeing programmes conducted in the workplace and their impact on employees and their employing organisations. The review drew on a broad range of sources covering multiple sectors. However, the report additionally highlights evidence that relates specifically to the retail and construction industries. The review offers an analysis of the current evidence base and discusses the implications of implementing different types of workplace health and wellbeing schemes. Some recommendations for supporting and promoting the health and wellbeing of employees in organisations are made on the basis of this review and, where gaps in knowledge are identified, recommendations for further research are made

Health and Well-being of Young People in Ethiopia, India, Peru and Vietnam: Life Course Impacts

Using data from four waves of the Young Lives longitudinal survey, we follow the lives of 3,064 eight-year-old children over 12 years in four developing countries (Ethiopia, India, Peru and Vietnam) to explore the links between children’s lives and their health and wellbeing in early adulthood. We apply a novel combination of sequence analysis with clustering and difference-in-differences estimation techniques to identify links between health and wellbeing outcomes in early adulthood and six distinct clusters grouping similar life course pathways. The latter are characterised by family living conditions, economic status and experience of critical life events (including economic shocks). Our results indicate that there were significant differences in health and wellbeing between children in the most advantaged and less advantaged clusters. These wellbeing gaps all narrowed over time but only completely closed for one cluster. In contrast, only some of the initial health gaps narrowed. These results suggest that policy aimed at improving health and wellbeing outcomes in early adulthood needs to focus on supporting disadvantaged young children

Work-life imbalance: informal care and paid employment

In the United Kingdom informal carers are people who look after relatives or friends who need extra support because of age, physical or learning disability or illness. The majority of informal carers are women and female carers also care for longer hours and for longer durations than men. Thus women and older women in particular, shoulder the burden of informal care. We consider the costs of caring in terms of the impact that these kinds of caring responsibilities have on employment. The research is based on the responses of informal carers to a dedicated questionnaire and in-depth interviews with a smaller sub-sample of carers. Our results indicate that the duration of a caring episode as well as the hours carers commit to caring impact on their employment participation. In addition carers’ employment is affected by financial considerations, the needs of the person they care for, carers’ beliefs about the compatibility of informal care and paid work and employers’ willingness to accommodate carers’ needs. Overall, the research confirms that informal carers continue to face difficulties when they try to combine employment and care in spite of recent policy initiatives designed to help them