Anhörigvårdare - kommunens stöd till anhörigvårdare och deras behov av stöd och hjälp Family caregivers - the municipality's support to family caregivers and their needs of help and support

Abstract

The family and relatives caring for older people in Sweden lies on an old tradition. The responsibility to care for older family members has gone from family to the society. The aim of this study was to examine the needs of family caregivers and their experience of municipality support. This study includes only the family caregivers who have the main responsibility for the care of relatives and have support from the municipality. The caregivers were not allowed to work more than 50 percent in another job. A qualitative and quantitative method was chosen. We interviewed ten family caregivers, and handed out a questionnaire in three municipalities for the caregivers. The result was divided into seven categories. 1. How /why did I become a caregiver? 2. Which support has the most value for me as a care giver? 3. How did I get the information about the municipality support? 4. What is positive for me as a caregiver? 5. And what is negative for me as a caregiver? 6. How do I experience the support from the municipality? 7. Do I have the opportunity to go to caregiver meetings or other activities? Our study shows that the caregivers were satisfied with the support from the municipality. The most valuable support was often the support they already had, but they felt that they needed more relief from the caregiving. The support that they felt that they lacked from the municipality was for example assistance with; gardening, window cleaning and help to exchange a light bulb.