Spillover Effects of Long-Term Disabilities on Close Family Members

Background Care and support of people dealing with long-term disabilities involves the entire family. Objectives This paper evaluates the effect of living with a relative dealing with a long-term disability on the health status of all family members in the household. Methods Using information from the Swiss household panel from the year 1999 to 2003 (n = 18,030), a linear regression is implemented to compare the health status of family members cohabiting with individuals dealing with a long-term disability with the health status of individuals of similar characteristics in the general population. Additionally, a non-parametric graphical analysis estimates the smooth patterns of the results over time. Results Family members who cohabit with a person dealing with a long-term disability have a consistently reduced health status. The size of the impact depends on the sex and the role in the family. In general, women show the most negative effects. For children, the impact depends on the relationship with the disabled person. Conclusion Recognizing the presence of health spillovers can help to design policies to better support families. Being the perceived health status a good indicator of the use of health services and mortality, the health system should focus on the entire family, and not only on the patient or the main caregiver.