标题：Informal caregivers’ judgements on sharing care with home care professionals from an intersectional perspective: the influence of personal and situational characteristics
出版社：Utrecht University, Maastricht University, Groningen University
摘要：Introduction : The European policy emphasis on providing informal care at home will increase contact between caregivers and home care professionals, which makes it more important for them to find satisfying ways to share care. We investigated the opinion of caregivers with various backgrounds on sharing care with home care professionals using an intersectional perspective. Methods : We used data of the Netherlands Institute for Social Research to conduct bivariate and multivariate linear regression analysis (n = 292). We combined four survey questions measuring the caregivers’ opinion on sharing care into a 1-4 scale called “caregiver judgement” (α = 0.69) and used personal characteristics of caregivers and situational characteristics as determinants to discern whether these are related to caregivers’ judgements and to consider the interaction between characteristics in relation to their judgements. Results : Overall, caregivers are quite satisfied about sharing care. Younger caregivers, caregivers who work, higher educated caregivers and those who are confronted with severe care situations are less satisfied about sharing care than others. Caregiving motivations influence the level of satisfaction and people who care for someone at more distance are less satisfied. This also applies to caregivers who care for someone with a mental impairment. Discussions : Other research shows there are gender differences in caregiving situations. These differences were not found in our study. Respondents with other ethnic backgrounds were not included in our study because this group was too small to draw valid conclusions. However, ethnic differences are observed across a wide variety of caregiving research. Conclusions : Various characteristics influence the caregivers’ judgement on sharing care with home care professionals. Caregivers’ personal characteristics explain 19% of the response variable variation, whereas both personal and situational characteristics explain 29%. Caregivers who provide help to people with a mental impairment are at risk of being less satisfied about sharing care compared to other caregivers, especially when they provide care to a parent or child, when they have a paid job or when they are aged between 45 and 64. Lessons learned : Our research adds to the knowledge base of social differences in the opinion of caregivers. This is important, because it clarifies differences in caregivers’ experiences and hence induce knowledge how to pay special attention to those who may experience less satisfaction while sharing care. These insights can help to improve good combinations of informal and formal care, which can prevent caregiver burden and increase quality of care. In our planned follow-up research, we will further discuss the meaning of these findings with caregivers and professionals themselves in order to get a better understanding of its consequences for caregiving practices. Limitations and suggestions for future research : In this study, the number of respondents was not very high. Therefore we should be careful while generalizing results. Using a larger sample size would also allow us to use an even more intersectionality-informed way of identifying social groups, which would enable us to discover other interacting factors that may be present.
关键词：informal caregivers ; home care professionals ; sharing care ; intersectionality ; quantitative research
