Support for family carers who care for an elderly person at home – a systematic literature review

Abstract

Family carers are a major source of help and assistance to the persons they provide care for. They are also major contributors to the welfare system, balancing the national health care expenditure. Increasing attention, in research as well as government policy, is being paid to their role as informal caregivers. Support to family carers seems to be a new 'buzzword' in Swedish Government policy. However, supporting family carers may prove to be a more complex endeavour than one initially might be led to believe. Support could here be understood as any services, assistances, education, information, attitudes, and lay or professional person's provision for the benefit of the family carer. The aim of this systematic review was to identify modes of, and scientific evidence on, support for family carers of cohabiting elderly persons. The method followed a seven-step model: a focused research question was formulated creating a base for deriving search words and inclusion and exclusion criteria for studies. Systematic database searches identified several studies some of which were retrieved, critically appraised and classified by two independent reviewers. A total of 26 articles were finally included, revealing that family carers fear social isolation and wish to network in groups with peers, either for social or for learning needs purposes. Family carers also desire respite care. However, it is unclear whether they actually benefit from any of the above or how service provision should be attempted.

Health-related quality of life of family caregivers—Evidence from Hesse

“…Social support for family caregivers of elderly people, whether it is received from institutions or from private social networks, is regarded as a possible coping resource, which may buffer emotional strain and burden within critical life-events and affects mental well-being (for an overview Sörensen et al 2002;Stoltz et al 2004;Smerglia et al 2007;Stummer 2007). Family carers who reported low values of satisfaction with social support had significantly poorer health and well-being than the carers who manifest high values of satisfaction with social support (Rösler-Schidlack et al 2010), be it from the private social network, from governmental institutions (Beyweiss and Ostermann, 2009) or the development of long-term nursing networks ).…”

Yakinlarina Bakim Verenleri̇n Ruh Sağliklari İle Sosyal Destek Algilari Arasindaki̇ İli̇şki̇ler

“…Yakınlarına bakım verenlerin, ailelerinin ve arkadaşlarının desteğine, dostluğa, yalnız olmadıklarını hissetmeye, para, bilgi ve eğitim konularında yardım almaya ve sosyal ve duygusal desteğe ihtiyaçları vardır (Akkök, 1997;Mitrani ve Chapa, 2000;Stoltz, Uden ve Willman, 2004).…”

“…Bakım verenlerin de alanların da önemli bölümünün kadın olduğu da dile getirilmektedir (Baran, 2005;Sink, Covinsky, Barnes, Newcomer ve Yaffe, 2006). Çoğu kültürde bakım verme, özellikle ailedeki kadınların görevi olarak algılanır (Etter, Goodall ve Harrison, 2008;Shin ve ark, 2006;Stoltz, Uden ve Willman, 2004;Papastavrou, Kalokerinou, Papacostas, Tsangari ve Sourtzi, 2007), Türkiye'de erkek evladın ve eşinin yaşlı anne ve babaya bakması geleneği sürmektedir (Baran ve ark., 2005). Bakım veren kadınlar risk grubudurlar, daha fazla nöropsikiyatrik ve psikopatolojik belirti göstermektedirler (Etter, Goodall ve Harrison, 2008;Harwood ve ark., 2000;Ulstein, Wyller ve Engedal, 2007;vanden Heuvel ve ark., 2001;Willette-Murphy, Todero ve Yeaworth, 2006).…”

Translation, Face and Content Validity of Burden Scale for Family Caregivers

“…Some studies claim that care can cause many negative problems like increased financial dependency, anger, wandering, fall, social problems, and decreased self-efficacy (8)(9)(10). Stroke not only changes the affected person's life, but also alters the caregiver's personal life.…”