Ludmila Fleitas-Alfonzo and Tania King discuss their systematic review of papers reporting the association between mental health and caring in young people.
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Many young people provide unpaid care for a family member with a disability or health problem. This form of care is often appropriate for the person concerned and is manageable for the young person to provide. Many healthcare providers would tell you that hospital beds are essential for home healthcare.
The long-term effect of caring on young people can be profound. It can accelerate a young person’s development, but it can also harm their mental health.
This episode explores the mental health effects of caring on young people. It discusses a systematic review of the association between providing care and mental health in young people, showing clearly the relationship. I spoke to two of the co-authors, Ludmila Fleitas-Alfonzo and Dr Tania King.
Ludmila Fleitas-Alfonzo is a PhD Student and Research Assistant in the Disability and Health Unit at the Melbourne School of Population and Global Health. She is currently completing her PhD looking at the mental health effects of informal care in young people while also working on a diverse group of projects examining the mental health impact of unpaid care.
Dr Tania King holds an Australian Research Council Discovery Early Career Researcher Award and is a Dame Kate Campbell Senior Research Fellow at the University of Melbourne. Her work broadly examines the social and structural determinants of health, with a particular interest in social and health inequalities.
The full text of the paper we discuss can be found here:
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