IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v21y2024i6p730-d1408836.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Double-Duty Carers’ Health and Wellbeing during COVID-19: Exploring the Role of Mobility of the Care Economy in Southern Ontario, Canada

Author

Listed:
  • Léa Ravensbergen

    (School of Earth, Environment & Society, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON L8S 4L8, Canada)

  • Sakshi Mehta

    (Faculty of Health Sciences, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON L8S 4L8, Canada)

  • Bharati Sethi

    (The Department of Political Studies, Trent University Peterborough, Peterborough, ON K9L 0G2, Canada)

  • Catherine Ward-Griffin

    (Faculty of Health Sciences, Western University, London, ON N6A 3K7, Canada)

  • Allison Williams

    (School of Earth, Environment & Society, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON L8S 4L8, Canada)

Abstract

Double-Duty Carers (DDCs) refer to people who work in the healthcare industry while also providing unpaid care to relatives, friends, or neighbours. The expectations placed on DDCs is expected to grow, and these employees already experience a high caring burden. As such it is important to understand how best to support their health and wellbeing. This paper explores DDCs’ wellbeing during the COVID-19 pandemic, focusing an understudied factor: their mobility constraints. Following the Mobility of the Care Economy framework and a qualitative research design, it does so through a thematic analysis of 16 semi-structured interviews with female DDCs in Southern Ontario, Canada. Once data saturation was reached, three mobility pathways during the pandemic were identified, all of which negatively affected DDCs wellbeing. First, some COVID-19 policies (e.g., testing requirements) resulted in increased mobility demands and increased spatiotemporal constraints. Second, the closure of institutions that care for dependents (schools, daycares, day centres) resulted in forced reduced mobility, which increased financial stress. Finally, indirect mobility effects were identified: the reduced mobility of other informal carers increased the workload and emotional strain on DDCs. The paper concludes with a discussion of mobility-related policies that could improve DDC wellbeing.

Suggested Citation

  • Léa Ravensbergen & Sakshi Mehta & Bharati Sethi & Catherine Ward-Griffin & Allison Williams, 2024. "Double-Duty Carers’ Health and Wellbeing during COVID-19: Exploring the Role of Mobility of the Care Economy in Southern Ontario, Canada," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 21(6), pages 1-16, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:21:y:2024:i:6:p:730-:d:1408836
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/21/6/730/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/21/6/730/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Sharma, Gajanand & Patil, Gopal R., 2021. "Public transit accessibility approach to understand the equity for public healthcare services: A case study of Greater Mumbai," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 94(C).
    2. Rebecca Brough & Matthew Freedman & David C. Phillips, 2021. "Understanding socioeconomic disparities in travel behavior during the COVID‐19 pandemic," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 61(4), pages 753-774, September.
    3. Benjamin Motte-Baumvol & Olivier Bonin & Leslie Belton-Chevallier, 2017. "Who escort children: mum or dad? Exploring gender differences in escorting mobility among parisian dual-earner couples," Transportation, Springer, vol. 44(1), pages 139-157, January.
    4. Ferdman, Avigail, 2021. "Well-being and mobility: A new perspective," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 146(C), pages 44-55.
    5. Nicole DePasquale & Kelly D. Davis & Steven H. Zarit & Phyllis Moen & Leslie B. Hammer & David M. Almeida, 2016. "Combining Formal and Informal Caregiving Roles: The Psychosocial Implications of Double- and Triple-Duty Care," The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, The Gerontological Society of America, vol. 71(2), pages 201-211.
    6. Brian D. Taylor & Kelcie Ralph & Michael Smart, 2015. "What Explains the Gender Gap in Schlepping? Testing Various Explanations for Gender Differences in Household-Serving Travel," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 96(5), pages 1493-1510, November.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Zhuolin Tao & Qi Wang, 2022. "Facility or Transport Inequality? Decomposing Healthcare Accessibility Inequality in Shenzhen, China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(11), pages 1-14, June.
    2. Hsin-Ping Hsu, 2023. "Domestic burden in an unfamiliar new homeland: gender, immigration, and household-serving trip frequencies," Transportation, Springer, vol. 50(6), pages 2319-2337, December.
    3. Jin, Tanhua & Cheng, Long & Wang, Kailai & Cao, Jun & Huang, Haosheng & Witlox, Frank, 2022. "Examining equity in accessibility to multi-tier healthcare services across different income households using estimated travel time," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 121(C), pages 1-13.
    4. Zuzana Truhlarova & Ondrej Stech & Alena Voseckova & Blanka Klimova & Kamil Kuca, 2020. "Assessment of Mental Burden of Family Caregivers of Persons with Health Disabilities in the Czech Republic," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 9(6), pages 1-11, June.
    5. Lou, Jiehong & Shen, Xingchi & Niemeier, Deb, 2020. "Are stay-at-home orders more difficult to follow for low-income groups?," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 89(C).
    6. Kim, Suji & Lee, Sujin & Ko, Eunjeong & Jang, Kitae & Yeo, Jiho, 2021. "Changes in car and bus usage amid the COVID-19 pandemic: Relationship with land use and land price," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 96(C).
    7. Park, Keunhyun & Chamberlain, Brent & Song, Ziqi & Nasr Esfahani, Hossein & Sheen, Jeff & Larsen, Teresa & Long Novack, Valerie & Licon, Carlos & Christensen, Keith, 2022. "A double jeopardy: COVID-19 impacts on the travel behavior and community living of people with disabilities," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 156(C), pages 24-35.
    8. Sangwan Lee & Liming Wang, 2022. "Intermediate Effect of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Prices of Housing near Light Rail Transit: A Case Study of the Portland Metropolitan Area," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(15), pages 1-17, July.
    9. Kiah L Evans & Jeannine Millsteed & Janet E Richmond & Marita Falkmer & Torbjorn Falkmer & Sonya J Girdler, 2016. "Working Sandwich Generation Women Utilize Strategies within and between Roles to Achieve Role Balance," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 11(6), pages 1-23, June.
    10. Alipour, Jean-Victor & Fadinger, Harald & Schymik, Jan, 2021. "My home is my castle – The benefits of working from home during a pandemic crisis," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 196(C).
    11. Gu, Lijuan & Yang, Linsheng & Wang, Li & Guo, Yanan & Wei, Binggan & Li, Hairong, 2022. "Understanding the spatial diffusion dynamics of the COVID-19 pandemic in the city system in China," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 302(C).
    12. Kwan Ok Lee & Hyojung Lee, 2022. "Public responses to COVID‐19 case disclosure and their spatial implications," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 62(3), pages 732-756, June.
    13. , Marcin Wozniak & Radzimski, Adam & Wajchman-Świtalska, Sandra, 2024. "Is More Always Better? Evaluating Accessibility to Parks and Forests in 33 European Cities Using Sustainable Modes of Transportation," OSF Preprints hcwgp, Center for Open Science.
    14. Klein, Nicholas J. & Guerra, Erick & Smart, Michael J., 2018. "The Philadelphia story: Age, race, gender and changing travel trends," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 19-25.
    15. Michael J. Smart & Nicholas J. Klein, 2020. "Disentangling the role of cars and transit in employment and labor earnings," Transportation, Springer, vol. 47(3), pages 1275-1309, June.
    16. Minh Hieu Nguyen & Jimmy Armoogum, 2021. "Perception and Preference for Home-Based Telework in the COVID-19 Era: A Gender-Based Analysis in Hanoi, Vietnam," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(6), pages 1-16, March.
    17. Hui Yao & Zhengfeng Huang & Xiaofei Ye & Manel Grifoll & Guiyun Liu & Pengjun Zheng, 2022. "Analysis of Taxi Travels during an Epidemic Period Using System Dynamics Method," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(6), pages 1-14, March.
    18. Brough, Rebecca & Freedman, Matthew & Phillips, David C., 2022. "Experimental evidence on the effects of means-tested public transportation subsidies on travel behavior," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 96(C).
    19. Isabelle Wachter & Christian Holz-Rau, 2022. "Gender differences in work-related high mobility differentiated by partnership and parenthood status," Transportation, Springer, vol. 49(6), pages 1737-1764, December.
    20. Wang, Jueyu & Kaza, Nikhil & McDonald, Noreen C. & Khanal, Kshitiz, 2022. "Socio-economic disparities in activity-travel behavior adaptation during the COVID-19 pandemic in North Carolina," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 125(C), pages 70-78.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:21:y:2024:i:6:p:730-:d:1408836. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.