Lone mothers and the puzzles of daily life: do care regimes really matter?

Kroger T. Lone mothers and the puzzles of daily life: do care regimes really matter? Int J Soc Welfare 2010: 19: 390–401 © 2009 The Author, Journal compilation © 2009 Blackwell Publishing Ltd and the International Journal of Social Welfare. This article studies childcare patterns and day-to-day strategies of 111 working lone mothers from Finland, France, Italy, Portugal and the UK, and asks whether their arrangements are prescribed by care regimes. Lone mothers' arrangements are grouped into five based on the availability and use of different formal and informal childcare resources. The article argues that, even though lone mothers have a more favourable starting point in Finland and France…

The Relationships Between Local and National Childcare Policies – A Comparison of Nordic and Southern European Cities

We start by comparing the childcare systems in the 11 European cities, looking particularly at whether the childcare provision in these cities follows national provision levels or not. We then focus on analyzing the relationships between local and national childcare policies in four European cities: Bologna (Italy) and Terrassa (Spain) from Southern Europe, and Jyvaskyla (Finland) and Aalborg (Denmark) from the Nordic countries. The availability and use of childcare services are analyzed, as are other factors influencing the possibilities and obstacles of labour market participation for mothers with young children. The aim of this analysis is to demonstrate the significance of local welfare…

Sosiaali- ja yhteiskuntapolitiikka myrskyn jälkeen

Underemployment among mothers of children with intellectual disabilities

Background Mothers with lifelong care responsibilities might involuntarily be non-employed or work part-time, both of which are defined as “underemployment.” This study aimed to investigate who these underemployed mothers are and what are the factors associated with such employment hardship when having a child with intellectual disability (ID). Method An interview survey was conducted in 2011 in two local authorities of Taiwan on 876 working-age mothers with a child with intellectual disability; 514 of them were working part-time/non-employed and chosen as participants of this study. Results The mothers with a younger child with intellectual disability, a higher level of education, a lower …

Nya avhandlingar: Omsorgens pris i åtstramningstid. Anhörigomsorg för äldre ur ett könsperspektiv (Petra Ulmanen)

Lost in translation : implementing personal assistance in an East Asian context

Since 2012, Taiwanese citizens with disabilities have been entitled to personal assistance from local authorities. To explore current features of personal assistance and barriers to its implementation, and distinguish it from homecare services, 33 disabled people and 12 staff members representing 10 local authorities in Taiwan were interviewed. Findings indicate that disabled people prefer personal assistance to homecare and perceive that relationships with their families have improved since the availability of personal assistance. However, many users’ needs are unmet due to insufficient hours of service and costly co-payments. Results also show that development of personal assistance has b…

Ylikuormitusta, lähijohtajan tuen puutetta vai vääränlaisia tehtäviä : miksi yhä useammat vanhustyöntekijät harkitsevat työnsä lopettamista?

Yhä useampi suomalainen vanhustyöntekijä harkitsee nykyisen työnsä lopettamis-ta. Artikkelin mukaan työntekijöiden psykofyysinen kuormitus on selvästi keskeisin lopettamisaikeita ennustava tekijä. Lisäksi lopettamisaikeita ennustavat epäkohdat työn sisällössä ja lähijohtamisessa. Nuoret, yrityksissä työskentelevät, osa-aikatyötä tekevät ja yli kahden vuoden hoitotyön koulutuksen saaneet vanhustyöntekijät har-kitsivat työnsä lopettamista muita vastaajia tavallisemmin. Increasing numbers of employees working in the care of older people in Finland are seriously considering leaving their jobs. This article examines factors that predict care workers’ leaving intentions. The data consist of NORDC…

Voice and choice for users and carers? Developments in patterns of care for older people in Australia, England and Finland

This article identifies key trends over the last 20 years in residential and community care for older people in England, Finland and Australia, investigating the extent of ‘de-institutionalisation’, ‘privatisation’ and ‘individualisation’. The concepts of collective and individual ‘voice’ and ‘choice’ are used to interrogate the roles of collective and individual actors, older people and carers, in influencing policy formulation. While these three processes have been pursued by policy-makers in each country, their implementation is illuminated by understanding how ‘voice’ and ‘choice’ have been operationalised – individually and collectively – in each context. In the reshaping of eldercare…

Effect of perceived stigmatisation on the quality of life among ageing female family carers: a comparison of carers of adults with intellectual disability and carers of adults with mental illness

Background  Little account has been taken of quality of life (QoL) among family carers of adults with an intellectual disability (ID) and family carers of adults with a mental illness (MI), particularly the female ageing carers' perceived stigma. We explore whether there are differences in the significant predictors of female ageing family carers' QoL between family carers of adults with ID and family carers of adults with MI and aim to examine the effect of these differences in stigma on carer QoL between the two groups. Methods  A structural survey interview was administered to 350 female family carers supporting persons with ID and 66 female carers supporting persons with MI; the carers …

Looking for the Easy Way Out : Demographic Panic and the Twists and Turns of Long-Term Care Policy in Finland

This chapter aims to map the twists and turns in the development of long-term care policy in Finland since the start of the 1990s. The main argument of the chapter is that these changes have to a large part been motivated by what is called here ‘demographic panic’, that is, fear of consequences of population ageing to the public purse. Various policy changes have taken place during the last three decades. Since the late 1980s, Finnish long-term care policies have been made under the shadow of the ‘demographic time bomb’ discourse that argues that care expenditures are to rise exponentially if determined action is not taken to curb the expenditures. As a result, the focus of policy has been …

Community Care in Taiwan

SUMMARY This article explores the policy definitions and the funder roles of central and local governments in community care in Taiwan. The notion of community care has been adopted in Taiwan following the model of Hong Kong but the main question of the article is whether this has resulted in actual service provisions at the community level, forming an alternative to institutional care. The data has been collected from several sources: policy documents, official statistics, surveys, general reports, funding provision reports, and empirical studies. The results show that neither central nor local authorities are seriously involved in caring for elderly people or persons with disabilities in …

A Nordic Welfare State in Post-industrial Society

Models of long-term care use among older people with disabilities in Taiwan: institutional care, community care, live-in migrant care and family care

The four main models of long-term care (LTC) for older people in Taiwan are institutional care, community & home-based care, live-in migrant care, and family care. This study aims to examine the factors associated with the four above-mentioned LTC models, using the Andersen model as its framework for analysis. Data were from the 2005 National Taiwanese Health Interview Survey (n=30,680) and in this study 592 over-65-year-old persons who require personal care in daily life were included. The findings showed that the majority of older people with care needs lived with family and were cared only by their family. The second largest group were those older people who were cared by migrant care wo…

Predictors of Job Satisfaction among Staff in Residential Settings for Persons with Intellectual Disabilities: A Comparison between Three Residential Models

Background  This cross-sectional study aims to assess whether there are differences in staff job satisfaction, including organizational and individual characteristics, between three residential models for adults with intellectual disabilities (small residential home, group home and institution) and to investigate the organizational and individual variables associated with staff job satisfaction. Methods  A standardized self-administered questionnaire (Job Satisfaction Survey) was distributed together with demographic questions between April 2007 and June 2007. In total, 1301 staff members completed the questionnaire. Results  We found that staff working at small homes had a significantly hi…

Hoivan tekijät : suomalainen hoivatyö pohjoismaisessa tarkastelussa

Defamilisation, Dedomestication and Care Policy: Comparing Childcare Service Provisions of Welfare States

PurposeThis paper aims to use perspectives from both mainstream and feminist welfare state research in drafting a conceptual approach for social care research. This approach is then applied empirically to a comparative analysis of childcare provisions of 15 OECD countries.Design/methodology/approachThe concept of dedomestication is developed from a discussion on the notions of decommodification and defamilisation, and it is defined as the degree to which social care policies make it possible for people to participate in society and social life outside their homes and families. In the empirical part of the paper, dedomestication of childcare service provisions of 15 welfare states is measure…

Lost in translation: implementing personal assistance in an East Asian context

Since 2012, Taiwanese citizens with disabilities have been entitled to personal assistance from local authorities. To explore current features of personal assistance and barriers to its implementat...

Using Private Social Care Services in Finland : Free or Forced Choices for Older People?

Use of private social care services among older people is increasing in Finland. This study aims to understand why older people choose private care in a comprehensive tax-subsidized social care system and examines whether people choose private service as a free choice or a forced choice as well as what factors contribute toward making these choices. Data for this study (N = 1,436) were gathered in 2010 from people aged 75 and above living independently at home in two Finnish cities: Tampere and Jyväskylä. Data were analyzed with several quantitative tests: chi-squared tests, multinomial regression analysis, and qualitative content analysis (for the open-ended responses from the survey quest…

Care Poverty

Kuntoutujan osallistaminen tavoitteenasettamisprosessiin ja tavoitteiden saavuttamisen arviointiin. Loppuraportti

Kuntoutujan osallisuus omassa kuntoutumisprosessissaan on ensiarvoisen tärkeää, jotta kuntoutumista edistävät toimet nivoutuvat osaksi kuntoutujan arkea ja kuntoutuja motivoituu ja sitoutuu muutokseen. Tässä Kelan rahoittamassa vuosina 2015 ja 2016 toteutetussa tutkimuksessa tarkasteltiin kuntoutujan osallistamista kuntoutumistavoitteiden asettamiseen ja tavoitteiden seurantaan Goal Attainment Scaling -menetelmällä (GAS). Tutkimuksen tavoitteena oli 1) tarkastella kuntoutujan osallisuutta ja siihen vaikuttavia tekijöitä tavoitteita asettaessa, 2) arvioida tavoitteiden saavuttamista ja siihen liittyviä tekijöitä sekä 3) vertailla kahden kuntoutujaryhmän yhtäläisyyksiä ja eroavaisuuksia tavoi…

Paikallisesta globaaliin sosiaalipolitiikkaan ja takaisin

Use of antidepressants among Finnish family caregivers : a nationwide register-based study

Abstract Purpose The purpose of this study was to compare the use of antidepressants over 6 years between family caregivers providing high-intensity care and a matched control population using register-based data. Methods The study includes all individuals, who received family caregiver’s allowance in Finland in 2012 (n = 29,846 females, mean age 66 years; n = 12,410 males, mean age 71 years) and a control population matched for age, sex, and municipality of residence (n = 59,141 females; n = 24,477 males). Information on purchases of antidepressants, including the number of defined daily doses (DDD) purchased, between 2012 and 2017 was obtained from the national drugs reimbursement registe…

Sosiaalipolitiikka yhteiskuntatieteiden kentässä

Retuning the Nordic Welfare Municipality: Central Regulation of Social Care under Change in Finland

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to analyse the changes that have taken place in the central regulation of social care in Finland since the 1970s. The changes in vertical central‐local relations are discussed in the context of economic and welfare state development.Design/methodology/approach – The paper is a case study, applying the concept of “the Nordic welfare municipality” to the case of Finland. With this concept, the author refers to the inherently contradictory character of the Nordic model of welfare governance: to a system that emphasises local self‐government but that, at the same time, perceives regional harmonisation as imperative.Findings – After strong central control d…

Psychophysical burden and lack of support : Reasons for care workers’ intentions to leave their work in the Nordic countries

Long-term care of older adults is currently suffering from a shortage of trained personnel and high turnover rates. Care work is poorly paid, demanding, increasingly time-bound and both mentally and physically burdensome. In this study, we examined the individual, organisational and economic factors that predict professional care workers’ intentions to leave their current employment, using the NORDCARE survey data (2015, N = 3801) collected in Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden. The respondents were mainly practical and assistant nurses. The analysis showed that the predictors of intentions to leave were similar in the four countries. The most consistent organisational predictors of leavin…

Reconciliation of work and care among lone mothers of adults with intellectual disabilities: the role and limits of care capital.

In this study, the concept of social capital is applied to an exploration of Guanxi (social networking to create good relationships) among working lone mothers of adults with intellectual disabilities (ID) in Taiwan. Using in-depth interviews, this study explores the role of social capital, here referred to as 'care capital', in making it possible for working lone mothers to combine their roles as family carers and workers. Eleven divorced or widowed mothers combining their paid work with long-term care responsibilities were recruited from a survey or through NGOs and were interviewed at their home between October 2008 and July 2010. An interpretative phenomenological approach was adopted f…

Ikääntyneiden hoivaköyhyys

Suomi on pohjoismainen hyvinvointivaltio, joka lupaa tarpeenmukaiset sosiaali- ja terveyspalvelut kaikille. Palvelujen lisäksi tai niiden sijasta monet ikääntyneet ihmiset saavat apua ja hoivaa läheisiltään. Mutta saavatko he riittävästi apua? Tässä artikkelissa avun riittämättömyydestä käytetään käsitettä hoivaköyhyys. Sen yleisyyttä sekä siihen yhteydessä olevia tekijöitä tutkitaan 75 vuotta täyttäneiden suomalaisten joukossa. peerReviewed

Universal Breadwinner Versus Universal Caregiver Model : Fathers’ Involvement in Caregiving and Well-Being of Mothers of Offspring with Intellectual Disabilities

Background The universal breadwinner model means both parents are employed; while the universal caregiver model implies that the father's hours of caregiving are equal or higher to those of the mother. This study aims to examine the hypothesis that the universal caregiver model is more related to the overall well-being of mothers of children with intellectual disabilities than the universal breadwinner model. Methods Face-to-face interview surveys were conducted in 2011 in Taiwan with 876 working-age mothers who had an offspring with intellectual disabilities. The survey included 574 mothers living with their husbands who became our participants. Results Both anova and regression analyses i…

Application of the International classification of functioning, disability and health in Taiwan : victory of the medical model

AbstractSince July 2012, eligibility for disability benefits and services in Taiwan has been assessed based on the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health. This study examines disabled people’s experiences of this new assessment system: does it incorporate the social model or a multidimensional understanding of disability and assess the needs of disabled people adequately? In-depth interviews were employed with 24 disabled persons to answer these questions from the perspective of disabled people. The findings show that the new assessment model is still medicalised: social roles and social participation are not considered, the assessment process is dominated by pro…

Work incapacity among family caregivers : a record linkage study

BackgroundFamily caregiving-related physical and mental health problems may lead to work incapacity in employed caregivers. The aim of this study was to quantify sickness absences and disability pensions (SADP) among high-intensity family caregivers available to the labour market compared with a control population.MethodsThe study sample included all individuals in Finland, who had received caregiver’s allowance and were available to the labour market in 2012 (n=16 982) and their controls (n=35 371). Information on the number of sickness absence (spells >10 days) and disability pension (SADP) days and related diagnoses according to ICD-10 were obtained from national registers for the yea…

Ageing in place together : older parents and ageing offspring with intellectual disability

AbstractLimited research has been conducted about ageing in place among older parents who co-habit with their ageing offspring with intellectual disability (ID). This study aims to explore which older parents would choose ageing in place together with their ageing offspring with ID instead of moving and what factors are associated with this choice. A face-to-face interview was conducted using the ‘housing pathways’ framework with older parents (⩾60 years) co-habiting with their ageing offspring with ID (⩾40 years) from two local authorities in Taiwan. In total, 237 families completed our census survey between June and September 2015. The results showed that 61.6 per cent of the participants…

Rehabilitees perspective on goal setting in rehabilitation : a phenomenological approach

Purpose: Setting meaningful goals for the rehabilitation process after acute illness is essential for rehabilitees recovery. The aim of this study was to understand the meanings of the goal setting situation with professionals from rehabilitees point of view. - Method: We included 20 acute stroke and back pain rehabilitees (mean age 66 y) who set goals with a multidisciplinary rehabilitation team. Data was collected by interviewing the rehabilitees after the goal setting situations. A qualitative analysis from a phenomenological perspective using Spiegelberg’s seven-phase meaning analysis was performed to reveal meanings. - Results: The five meanings were identified as: (i) “trust in the re…

Conceptions of healthcare professionals about rehabilitees’ participation in goal setting in an acute hospital : a phenomenographic study

Purpose: In acute care, effective goal-setting is an essential phase of a successful rehabilitation process. However, professionals’ knowledge and skills in rehabilitee-centered practice may not always match the ways of implementing goal-setting. This study aimed to describe the variation in how acute hospital professionals perceive and comprehend rehabilitee participation in rehabilitation goal-setting. Methods: Data were collected by interviewing 27 multidisciplinary rehabilitation team members in small groups shortly after rehabilitation goal-setting sessions. A qualitative research design based on phenomenography was implemented. Results: We identified four conceptions of rehabilitee pa…

Impact of care responsibilities on women’s employment: a comparison between European and East Asian welfare states

ABSTRACTWomen with care responsibilities tend to reduce their labour market activity and to work part time, even if there are cross-national differences. Empirical research often analyses this separately for childcare and elderly care, and studies are usually limited to Western societies. This article aims to explore to what extent women’s care responsibilities for children and older people impact on women’s labour market integration and how this impact differs in the context of different welfare states in Europe and Asia. The analysis is based on data from a new comparative survey for four cities (Jyvaskyla, Hamburg, Bologna and Hsinchu) in four countries (Finland, Germany, Italy and Taiwa…

Depressive symptoms in older female carers of adults with intellectual disabilities

Background  This survey study aims to examine the prevalence and factors associated with depressive symptoms among primary older female family carers of adults with intellectual disabilities (ID). Method  In total, 350 female family carers aged 55 and older took part and completed the interview in their homes. The survey package contained standardised scales to assess carer self-reported depressive symptoms, social support, caregiving burden and disease and health, as well as adult and carer sociodemographic information. Multiple linear regressions were used to identify the factors associated with high depressive symptoms in carers. Results  Between 64% and 72% of these carers were classifi…

Age-dependency in mortality of Finnish family caregivers: a nationwide register-based study

Abstract Purpose Mortality appears to be lower in family caregivers than in the general population. However, there is lack of knowledge whether the difference in mortality between family caregivers and the general population is dependent on age. The purpose of this study was to analyze all-cause mortality in relation to age in family caregivers and to study their cause-specific mortality using data from multiple Finnish national registers. Methods The data included all individuals, who received family caregiver's allowance in Finland in 2012 (n = 42 256, mean age 67 years, 71% women) and a control population matched for age, sex, and municipality of residence (n = 83 618). Information on da…

Hoivatyö muutoksessa : suomalainen vanhustyö pohjoismaisessa vertailussa

NORDCARE2-tutkimushanke on pohjoismaisen tutkijaryhmän vuonna 2015 toteuttama uusintatutkimus kymmenen vuotta aiemmasta tutkimuksesta, joka tuotti ensimmäistä kertaa vertailukelpoista tietoa hoivatyön työtehtävistä ja työolosuhteista eri Pohjoismaissa. Tämä raportti esittää hankkeen keskeisimmät tulokset suomalaisen hoivatyön näkökulmasta. NORDCARE2-hankkeen kyselyaineisto kerättiin syksyllä 2015. Suomessa tutkimuksen otoksena toimi molemmilla kerroilla Superin, JHL:n ja Tehyn vanhustyötä tekevästä jäsenkunnasta tehty satunnaisotos. Sairaanhoitajat eivät sisälly tutkimukseen. Vuonna 2005 kysely lähetettiin Suomessa, Ruotsissa, Norjassa ja Tanskassa kussakin 1200 vastaajalle ja vuonna 2015 2…

Use of prescription benzodiazepines and related drugs in family caregivers: a nation-wide register-based study

Abstract Background objective indicators of sleep and mental health problems in family caregivers have rarely been reported. Objective to study the use of prescription benzodiazepines and related drugs (BZDRD) in Finnish family caregivers and matched controls. Design prospective follow-up in 2012–17. Setting nationwide register-linkage study. Subjects all individuals who received family caregiver’s allowance in Finland in 2012 (N = 42,256; mean age 67 years; 71% women) and controls matched for age, sex and municipality of residence (N = 83,618). Methods information on purchases of prescription BZDRD, including the number of defined daily doses (DDDs), between 2012 and 2017 was obtained from…

Respite care as a community care service: Factors associated with the effects on family carers of adults with intellectual disability in Taiwan

This study examines the effects and associated factors of respite care, which was legislated as a community service for adults with an intellectual disability (ID) in Taiwan in 1997.A total of 116 family carers who live with an adult with ID and have utilised the respite care program were surveyed using standardised measures.The results suggest that the most notable effects of respite care include improvement in the carers' social support and life satisfaction, and relief of psychological stress and overall burden of care. The factors associated with these effects include the way the participants have used the respite care and the users' individual characteristics.How families used the resp…

Job satisfaction and quality of life among home care workers: a comparison of home care workers who are and who are not informal carers

ABSTRACTBackground: Job satisfaction and quality of life among home care workers who serve simultaneously as informal carers for their own family members have seldom been explored. This study examined how this dual role influences job satisfaction and quality of life by comparing these dual carers with home care workers who do not provide informal care. The study also explored whether the factors related to job satisfaction and quality of life between these two groups were different.Method: Standardized self-administered questionnaires (Job Satisfaction Survey, the World Health Organization Quality of Life (WHOQOL) scales and various social demographic questions) were administered to the tw…

Well‐being among employed and non‐employed caregiving women in Taiwan

Chou Y-C, Kroger T, Chiao C, Pu C-Y. Well-being among employed and non-employed caregiving women in Taiwan This study addressed various groups of non-employed/employed and non-caring/caring women in Taiwan. Data from the 2006 National Taiwanese Women Survey (at age 16–64, n= 6,017) were analysed to determine whether there are differences in terms of well-being, as measured by self-rated health and family life satisfaction, between women who work and/or care and between different carer groups. Other factors associated with well-being of carers of young children (n= 1,697) were also analysed. The results showed that non-employed carers of disabled adults stood out as the most disadvantaged gr…

Hoivaköyhyys kasvattaa vanhuusiän eriarvoisuutta

Suomessa jopa joka neljäs apua tarvitsevista ikääntyneistä jää vaille riittävää ja asianmukaista apua. Hoivaköyhyys on yhteiskunnallisen eriarvoisuuden ilmentymä, johon liittyy usein niin sosiaalista kuin taloudellista huono-osaisuutta. nonPeerReviewed

The adoption of market-based practices within care for older people: is the work satisfaction of Nordic care workers at risk?

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Care for older people in early twenty-first-century Europe : dimensions and directions of change

Transformation by stealth: the retargeting of home care services in Finland

This paper analyses the trends and changes that home care services for older people have undergone during the last two decades in Finland. The data used come from national social care statistics, covering the time period from 1990-2010. The results show that, in contrast to many other European nations that have expanded their home care provisions, the coverage levels in Finland have dropped dramatically during this period. Those with the highest needs do receive increased amounts of support, but others have become excluded from publicly funded home care provisions and often need to rely on family members. In most localities, public service provision is focused on personal care, and no longe…

Care poverty : unmet care needs in a Nordic welfare state

This article introduces the concept of care poverty, defined as inadequate coverage of care needs resulting from an interplay between individual and societal factors, and examines its level and predictors among the 75+ population in Finland. The data come from a survey conducted in 2010 and 2015. Despite the universalistic goals of the Finnish care system, 26 percent of respondents with limitations in daily activities faced care poverty with regard to instrumental activities of daily living; the activities of daily living care poverty rate was 17 percent. Concerning instrumental activities of daily living, care poverty was associated with income level, health status and living arrangements,…

Outcomes of a new residential scheme for adults with intellectual disabilities in Taiwan: a 2-year follow-up

Background  The Taiwanese government launched a new programme in November 2004 to support adults with intellectual disabilities living in smaller facilities. This paper aims to evaluate the service outcomes of this new residential scheme over 2 years including those residents who moved from an institution and those who moved from their family. Methods  A one-group repeated-measures analysis was conducted for five interviews after the adults with intellectual disabilities entered the new environment. Forty-nine adults were initially studied (T1) and 29 adults remained in the homes until the end of the study (T5). Results  This study found significant improvements over the 2 years in the resi…

Experiences of family caregivers of persons living with dementia with and without a smart-clothes assisted home nursing program during the heightened COVID-19 alert

Background The COVID-19 pandemic has required restrictions of daily activities, which has been found to impact the lives of persons living with dementia (PLWDs) and their family caregivers, who have multiple care demands. The lack of relevant studies in Taiwan emphasized the need to explore the experiences of family caregivers of older PLWDs faced with the intensified restrictions to control the spread of COVID-19, and the impact of the availability of a smart-clothes home nursing program. Methods This qualitative study used semi-structured interviews with family caregivers of older PLWDs. Participants were recruited from dementia clinics of a medical center in northern Taiwan from a subset…

Users of home-care services in a Nordic welfare state under marketisation: the rich, the poor and the sick

Stricter access to public services, outsourcing of municipal services and increasing allocation of public funding for the purchase of private services have resulted in a marketisation wave in Finland. In this context of a Nordic welfare state undergoing marketisation, this paper aims to examine the use of Finnish care services among older people and find out who are using these new kinds of private services. How wide is their use and do the users of private care services differ from those who are using public services? How usual is it to mix both public and private care services? The questionnaire survey data set used here was gathered in 2010 among the population aged 75 and over in the ci…

Revisiting the Nordic long-term care model for older people - still equal?

With the extensive long-term care services for older people, the Nordic countries have been labelled ‘caring states’ as reported (Leira, Welfare state and working mothers: the Scandinavian experience, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1992). The emphasis on services and not cash benefits ensures the Nordics a central place in the public service model (Anttonen and Sipilä, J Eur Soc Policy 6:87–100, 1996). The main feature of this ideal model is public social care services, such as home care and residential care services, which can cover the need for personal and medical care, as well as assistance with household chores. These services are provided within a formally and professionally b…

Care research and disability studies: Nothing in common?

Disability researchers have voiced the criticism that the concept of care, together with research based on it, consists of the view that disabled people are dependent non-autonomous second-class citizens. The perspectives of disability studies and care research certainly are different from each other. Disability studies analyse the oppression and exclusion of disabled people and emphasize that disabled people need human rights and control over their own lives. Care research focuses rather on care relationships, informal and formal care, care-giving work and `an ethics of care'. Nevertheless, it is suggested here that the two perspectives are not mutually exclusive and that the two groups co…

Loneliness: A Social Problem by Keming Yang (2019)

Caring, employment, and quality of life: comparison of employed and nonemployed mothers of adults with intellectual disability.

Abstract The effects of caregiving on mothers of adults with intellectual disability was examined by determining whether there are differences in quality of life and related factors between mothers with different employment status. Study participants were 302 working-age mothers who had adult children with intellectual disability based on the 2008 census survey on intellectual disability carried out in Hsinchu, City, Taiwan. Results revealed that nonemployed mothers are more likely to have a lower level of health status, including the WHOQOL Physical Health domain, than are mothers employed fulltime. Multiple regression analysis showed that mothers' quality of life was significantly determi…

Age-dependency in mortality of family caregivers : a nationwide register-based study

Abstract Background Evidence on family caregivers' health is conflicting. Aim To investigate all-cause and cause-specific mortality in Finnish family caregivers providing high-intensity care and to assess whether age modifies the association between family caregiver status and mortality using data from multiple national registers. Methods The data include all individuals, who received family caregiver's allowance in Finland in 2012 (n = 42,256, mean age 67 years, 71% women) and a control population matched for age, sex, and municipality of residence (n = 83,618). Information on dates and causes of death between 2012 and 2017 were obtained from the Finnish Causes of Death Register. Results F…