Childcare engagement among older adults in Australia and subsequent physical, psychosocial, and behavioral health outcomes

Background: While intergenerational caregiving is increasingly prevalent among older individuals, longitudinal evidence on its associations with multidimensional health outcomes remains limited.

Purpose: This study examined the associations between childcare engagement in older adults and various health and behavioral outcomes at follow-up.

Methods: We analyzed data from a cohort of >12 000 (range: 12 124–12 896) community-dwelling adults aged 70+ years, categorizing childcare engagement as never, <weekly, and ≥weekly. Using an outcome-wide approach, we assessed 42 outcomes across physical, cognitive/major health events, psychological, social, and behavioral domains. Follow-up assessments occurred at ∼2years for most outcomes, with extended follow-up (median 6–9years) for time-to-event outcomes. We performed gender-disaggregated regressions, adjusting for multiple covariates.

Results: Participants were aged 70–95years (mean: 75.2±4.3) at baseline, and 54.5% were women. Childcare engagement was more common among women (46% vs. 40%). Key findings included: (1) social domain: both genders showed increased social contacts and community participation, with women additionally demonstrating reduced social isolation; (2) mortality: lower mortality was observed in men with a dose-response pattern, while only <weekly childminding was associated with lower mortality in women; (3) physical domain: men showed increased moderate-to-vigorous physical activity while women had higher pain reports and slower gait speed; and (4) null associations: most psychological outcomes, as well as certain physical and health events, showed no significant relationships.

Conclusion: Childcare engagement during older adulthood was linked to not only selected health outcomes, including notable social benefits and lower mortality, but also some physical trade-offs in women. These findings support considering intergenerational engagement in healthy ageing initiatives.