This study investigates the lived experiences of multiple sclerosis family carers during the COVID-19 pandemic and explores the impact of the pandemic on psychological resilience processes using a socioecological framework. Following thematic analysis of interviews, two main findings emerged: first, behavioural vigilance intended to mitigate viral spread eclipsed carers’ needs and deprived them of support resources; and, second, multiple sclerosis carers harboured resilience via practices of gratitude and leveraging interpersonal relationships. Future action is needed to develop public crisis responses that integrate multiple sclerosis carers’ needs, including improved care-continuity models, the alleviation of social isolation and advancements in multifaceted wellness preservation.
This article examines carers’ potential to care for older adults with disabilities in Trinidad. Quantitative data on willingness, availability and skills, together with qualitative data on factors affecting care potential, were collected from a large, nationally representative sample of Trinidadians. About 68 per cent of Trinidadians were willing to care for older relatives with disabilities, 42 per cent were available and 31 per cent perceived having the required skills. Factors affecting care potential include personal views, potential of social network, competency and constraints. Integrated results indicate the importance of evaluating existing governmental programmes, targeted support for various ethnic groups and to older carers, and skills training.
The COVID-19 crisis has demonstrated the extreme vulnerability of the human being and the importance of care within the framework of a social state. This crisis has also brought pre-existing inequalities to light, showing that it is mainly women who continue to take up the tasks of care as they have always done. Indeed, care work has always been carried out by women and this dedication has contributed to diminishing the exercise of other rights, so it is essential to take on the tasks of care by the family and the State in a co-responsible manner. This problem has been taken into consideration by the studies on constitutional reform in Spain in order to prepare a text that includes the right to care, and the rights of caregivers as well. The purpose of this work is to highlight this need and to make proposals to improve the Spanish constitutional framework.
Family carers have high rates of stress, anxiety and depression, but there are also positive aspects of caregiving. The aim of this study is to explore correlates of caregiving competence, a positive aspect of caregiving, in 146 female family carers. Regression analyses identify that self-efficacy for controlling upsetting thoughts, caregiver preparedness and self-reassurance were significantly related to caregiving competence, after controlling for contextual variables. These findings indicate that mental health practitioners working with family carers should target positive psychosocial mechanisms, along with factors directly related to the caregiving situation, to enhance carer well-being and promote sustainable care.
This study examines whether care workers in Finland feel able to provide adequate care for older people and analyses the working conditions that limit them from providing it. One third of the respondents felt that they were not able to provide sufficient care for older people. This was seen as being due to excessive workloads, a general lack of staff and accompanying physical and mental burdens. Improving care workers’ working conditions would enhance their work–life balance and allow them to help older people avoid situations of care poverty, that is, to receive the level of care they deserve.
Eldercare arrangements are intricately woven and complex. While adult children are socially extolled as legitimate caregivers, ayahs working in ayah centres are making revolutionary strides in Kolkata. Drawing across this context, the article explores multiple essences of lived experiences through which care actors like ayahs, elderly care receivers, their kin and ayah-centre managers produce and reproduce ‘care practices’. These establish ayahs and ayah centres as a social resource for the elderly, enabling them to reflect on their mundane ageing and ‘personhood’ in Kolkata.
