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Die Autoren stellen ausgewählte Ergebnisse des von der Europäischen Union geförderten Projekts EUROFAMCARE - "Unterstützung und Entlastung für pflegende Angehörige älterer Menschen" vor. Das Projekt besteht aus mehreren Teilstudien: Zum einen wurden in 23 europäischen Ländern repräsentative Daten zur Situation pflegender Angehöriger erhoben und daraus nationale Hintergrundberichte verfasst, deren wesentliche Ergebnisse die Autoren kurz zusammenfassen. Zum anderen wurden in den sechs Konsortiumsländern Deutschland, Griechenland, Italien, Polen, Schweden und Großbritannien persönliche Gespräche mit pflegenden Angehörigen durchgeführt. Die Autoren berichten hierzu aus folgenden Bereichen: objektiver Hilfebedarf von Pflegebedürftigen, subjektives Belastungsempfinden bei pflegenden Angehörigen und Unterschiede zwischen Männern und Frauen sowie zwischen pflegenden Kindern und (Ehe-) Partnern, geschlechts- und generationenspezifische Belastungsmuster im Ländervergleich, Organisation der Pflege, Vereinbarkeit von Familie und Beruf. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass die geschlechtsspezifischen Unterschiede in der häuslichen Pflege ein weitgehend durchgängiges Grundmuster darstellen, das auch bei sehr unterschiedlichen Ausgangslagen in den nationalen Kontexten als Konstante wiederzufinden ist. (ICI)

Depuis une dizaine d'années, un nombre croissant d'Italiens embauche, à titre privé, des travailleurs migrants, pour des services d'aide à domicile. Ces aidants sont souvent hébergés chez l'employeur et s'occupent des personnes âgées fragiles. Ce phénomène a pris une ampleur considérable, avec une sorte d'«ethnicisation» du secteur des soins aux seniors. En effet, les ménages italiens sont de moins en moins en mesure de procurer une aide informelle, comme le voulait la tradition. Ce changement s'explique par la progression de l'emploi féminin, ainsi que par les différents mécanismes d'allocations versées pour pourvoir aux soins, susceptibles d'être cumulées (et qui sont préférées à la fourniture directe de soins), et par la vision culturelle encore «familialiste» qui explique l'aversion pour le placement en institut spécialisé. Cet article propose un aperçu des grandes tendances qui gouvernent actuellement l'offre et la demande d'aide et de soins aux personnes âgées en Italie, sous l'angle de la démographie, du marché du travail et de l'aide sociale, esquissant notamment les motivations qui poussent les familles italiennes à embaucher des aidants migrants à domicile, ainsi que les difficultés auxquelles ceux-ci sont confrontés, et conclut sur une analyse du rôle de médiation que pourrait jouer l'Union européenne pour traiter ce phénomène qui progresse à l'échelle internationale.

Purpose -- The purpose of this paper is to investigate chronicity (frequency) in different abuse types (e.g. psychological) and overall abuse (all abuse types) by severity (minor, severe, total) in seven European cities, and scrutinize factors associated with high chronicity levels (frequency on the median and higher) in psychological and overall abuse by severity. Design/methodology/approach -- The study design was cross-sectional. The sample consisted of 4,467 randomly selected women/men (2,559 women) aged 60-84 years from seven European cities, and data were analysed with bivariate and multivariate methods. Findings -- Chronicity varied across country and by abuse type. For instance, Germany had the highest chronicity means in physical and sexual abuse; Greece in physical, injury, sexual and overall abuse; Lithuania in physical, injury, financial and overall abuse; Portugal in physical abuse; Spain in physical, sexual and financial abuse; and Sweden in psychological, injury, financial and overall abuse. In general, Italy had the lowest chronicity means. The main perpetrators were people close to the respondents and women (in some cases). Research limitations/implications -- The independent relationship (regressions) between chronicity/severity of abuse, country and other variables (e.g. depression) was examined only for psychological and overall abuse. More research into this issue with other types of abuse (e.g. sexual) is warranted. Originality/value -- The paper reports data from the ABUEL survey, which gathered population-based data on elderly abuse. Adapted from the source document.

ABSTRACTThis paper examines differences in work restrictions of midlife family carers of older people in terms of prevalence, gender and explanatory variables, in six European countries: Germany, Greece, Italy, Poland, Sweden and the United Kingdom. A sample of 2,897 carers aged 45–64 was extracted from the EUROFAMCARE (Services for Supporting Family Carers of Older People in Europe: Characteristics, Coverage and Usage) European project database, in order to analyse four possible work restrictions experienced in connection with the activity of care-giving: the reduction of working hours; giving up working; difficulties in career developments and forced occasional work. The results show that work restrictions are experienced differently between countries especially by women: they are reported to a higher degree in the United Kingdom, Germany and Greece, less so in Italy, and seldom in Poland and Sweden. Gender differences within countries are not so marked. Country differences are explained in the light of the different welfare regimes characterising the countries under investigation, in order to elucidate how policy makers may act to improve working carers' conditions through appropriate policies.

Background: Health and social services provided at home are becoming increasingly important. Hence, there is a need for information on home care in Europe. The objective of this literature review was to respond to this need, by systematically describing what has been reported on home care in Europe in the scientific literature over the past decade. Methods: A systematic literature search was performed for papers on home care published in English, using the following data bases: Cinahl, the Cochrane Library, Embase, Medline, PsycINFO, Sociological Abstracts, Social Services Abstracts, and Social Care Online. Studies were only included if they complied with the definition of home care, were published between January 1998 and October 2009, and dealt with at least one of the 31 specified countries. Clinical interventions, instrument developments, local projects and reviews were excluded. The data extracted included: the characteristics of the study and aspects of home care 'policy & regulation', 'financing', 'organisation & service delivery', and 'clients & informal carers'. Results: Seventy-four out of 5,133 potentially relevant studies met the inclusion criteria, providing information on 18 countries. Many focused on the characteristics of home care recipients and on the organisation of home care. Geographical inequalities, market forces, quality and integration of services were also among the issues frequently discussed. Conclusions: It can be concluded that home care systems appeared to differ not just between but also within countries. The papers included, however, provided only a limited picture of home care. Many studies only focused on one aspect of the home care system and international comparative studies were rare. Furthermore, little information emerged on home care financing and on home care in general in Eastern Europe. This review clearly shows the need for more scientific publications on home care, especially papers comparing countries. A comprehensive and more complete insight into the state of home care in Europe requires gathering of information using a uniform framework and methodology. ; This is an open access journal and the full article is available: 10.1186/1472-6963-11-207

Background: Health and social services provided at home are becoming increasingly important. Hence, there is a need for information on home care in Europe. The objective of this literature review was to respond to this need by systematically describing what has been reported on home care in Europe in the scientific literature over the past decade. Methods: A systematic literature search was performed for papers on home care published in English, using the following data bases: Cinahl, the Cochrane Library, Embase, Medline, PsycINFO, Sociological Abstracts, Social Services Abstracts, and Social Care Online. Studies were only included if they complied with the definition of home care, were published between January 1998 and October 2009, and dealt with at least one of the 31 specified countries. Clinical interventions, instrument developments, local projects and reviews were excluded. The data extracted included: the characteristics of the study and aspects of home care 'policy & regulation', 'financing', 'organisation & service delivery', and 'clients & informal carers'. Results: Seventy- four out of 5,133 potentially relevant studies met the inclusion criteria, providing information on 18 countries. Many focused on the characteristics of home care recipients and on the organisation of home care. Geographical inequalities, market forces, quality and integration of services were also among the issues frequently discussed. Conclusions: Home care systems appeared to differ both between and within countries. The papers included, however, provided only a limited picture of home care. Many studies only focused on one aspect of the home care system and international comparative studies were rare. Furthermore, little information emerged on home care financing and on home care in general in Eastern Europe. This review clearly shows the need for more scientific publications on home care, especially studies comparing countries. A comprehensive and more complete insight into the state of home care in Europe ...

Background: Health and social services provided at home are becoming increasingly important. Hence, there is a need for information on home care in Europe. The objective of this literature review was to respond to this need, by systematically describing what has been reported on home care in Europe in the scientific literature over the past decade. Methods: A systematic literature search was performed for papers on home care published in English, using the following data bases: Cinahl, the Cochrane Library, Embase, Medline, PsycINFO, Sociological Abstracts, Social Services Abstracts, and Social Care Online. Studies were only included if they complied with the definition of home care, were published between January 1998 and October 2009, and dealt with at least one of the 31 specified countries. Clinical interventions, instrument developments, local projects and reviews were excluded. The data extracted included: the characteristics of the study and aspects of home care 'policy & regulation', 'financing', 'organisation & service delivery', and 'clients & informal carers'. Results: Seventy-four out of 5,133 potentially relevant studies met the inclusion criteria, providing information on 18 countries. Many focused on the characteristics of home care recipients and on the organisation of home care. Geographical inequalities, market forces, quality and integration of services were also among the issues frequently discussed. Conclusions: It can be concluded that home care systems appeared to differ not just between but also within countries. The papers included, however, provided only a limited picture of home care. Many studies only focused on one aspect of the home care system and international comparative studies were rare. Furthermore, little information emerged on home care financing and on home care in general in Eastern Europe. This review clearly shows the need for more scientific publications on home care, especially papers comparing countries. A comprehensive and more complete insight into the ...

This important and timely volume brings together a distinguished set of international scholars who provide rich information about the social, economic, political, and historical factors responsible for shaping ageing policy in the Mediterranean region