Young carers and young adult carers in Switzerland: Caring roles, ways into care and the meaning of communication

Abstract

Although there is already general recognition of the fact that many relatives provide unpaid care for family members, there is still little awareness that children, adolescents and young adults under 25 also provide such care. Until recently, the situation of young carers and young adult carers, as those young persons are referred to in international research, has not been in the focus of professionals, research and the public in Switzerland. Between September 2015 and October 2016, 30 interviews in seven cantons were conducted with 16 young carers aged 10-17 and 14 young adult carers aged 18-25. The interviews were recorded, transcribed and analysed following a grounded theory approach. This paper now presents the first qualitative data on Swiss young carers and young adult carers. It explores their sociodemographic backgrounds, the nature and intensity of caring tasks they carry out, their pathways into caring as well as the role of communication with family members, extended family, professionals and peers. Our findings provide a first insight in the lives of young carers and young adult carers in Switzerland and illustrate, as well, the challenges they face.

Caring in mind? Professionals’ awareness of young carers and young adult carers in Switzerland

“…This is also in line with our previous findings from focus groups on professionals' awareness. After being introduced to the issue, professionals quickly recognised the relevance of the issue, as well as earlier encounters with YC (Leu et al, 2018a). Yet, the professionals’ ability to support young people with caring responsibilities is related to whether they deem the topic relevant and to the ability to identify them.…”

“…The research team developed a questionnaire based on the qualitative findings of a national study of YC needs in Switzerland (Leu et al, 2018a) and on the professionals' perspectives regarding their awareness of young people with caring responsibilities (Cox & Pakenham, 2014; Leu et al., 2018b). The aim of the questionnaire development was to extend and contextualise the qualitative data from the previous studies.…”

“…Additionally, we aimed to assess professionals’ ability to support YC, and their own training needs. As indicated by preliminary findings (Leu et al, 2018a, 2018b), we assumed that most Swiss professionals are not aware of the issue of YC. Therefore, we predicted familiarity , relevance and identification to be present in the minority of professionals (i.e.…”

“…However, it is a challenge because of the hidden nature of the caring role, which has been described as a core feature of YC and their families (Banks et al., 2001,2002; Leu & Becker, 2019; Morris, King, Turner, & Payne, 2015). Young people with caring responsibilities often do not identify themselves as carers and therefore they are not recognised in their own environment (Hamilton & Redmond, 2020; Leu, Frech, & Jung, 2018a; Stamatopoulos, 2015). In many ways, this exclusion leaves them without access to appropriate support (Fives, Kennan, Canavan, & Brady, 2013; Frank & Slatcher, 2009; Smyth, Cass, & Hill, 2011).…”

Care for carers: A concept analysis of support for carers of ill relatives

“…These children become “unseen” carers and are not officially supported. These “unseen” carers may be responsible for providing emotional support, physical care, tending to domestic responsibilities, and even dealing with financial issues 11 …”