Forms of care among native Swiss and older migrants from Southern Europe: a comparison

Abstract

ABSTRACTThis paper explores the following question: Which forms of care are used by older migrants compared to older natives in Switzerland? Access to care is an important issue for older people. Health problems and the reduction of the functional abilities can lead older people to become more vulnerable and dependent on social support. Many forms of care are available to support older people. In this paper, we explore help and home-care services, together with other ambulatory care activities provided mainly by the public sector and not-for-profit organisations or by private services, and the informal care provided by family and friends. Many studies show that older migrants are underusing formal services while others arrive to opposite conclusions. Using data from a 2012 representative survey in Switzerland, where older migrants from Italy, Spain and Portugal are over-represented (300 individuals aged 65–79 from both an oversample and the main sample in the regions of Geneva and Basel), we test these contradictory observations by comparing the forms of care received by older migrants with those received by older Swiss of the same age cohort (65–79). The results are presented and discussed in regard to various hypotheses about services use.