Abstract
BackgroundInformal caregivers are an essential pillar for ensuring and maintaining the outpatient care of the frail elderly. Due to demographic changes, including an increase in the number of people in need of care as well as changing social structures (full-time employment of women, increasing number of single households, etc.) these informal care structures are fraught by considerable challenges. To support and facilitate informal caregivers in their role of nursing, it is important to identify their preferences, needs, and thus create a preference-oriented system.MethodsA systematic review was conducted to identify preferences and needs regarding the organization of informal care. The database searches were performed by using EMBASE, Scopus and Dimdi.ResultsA total of 44 studies were included in the present review. Studies from 17 different countries provide broad international perspectives. Besides the preferences for long-term care structure, the following four principal topics were identified: (1) informational needs; (2) support needs; (3) organizational needs, and (4) needs for societal recognition.ConclusionTo meet the current challenges in the outpatient or home-based care of elders, it is essential to strengthen the role of informal caregivers. Therefore, it is necessary to adopt and further develop informal care structures according to the needs of informal caregivers. However, demographic, financial and cultural aspects of each country need to be considered as these may influence the preferences and needs of informal caregivers.
Highlights
Informal caregivers are an essential pillar for ensuring and maintaining the outpatient care of the frail elderly
Plöthner et al BMC Geriatrics (2019) 19:82 to professional care [7]. These trends combined with the growing number of elderly and people in need of care as well as the shortage of formal and qualified caregivers pose a big challenge for the future regarding the structure and organization of long-term care for most countries
In December 2016, we conducted a systematic literature search by using the PubMed and Scopus databases as well as the Objective/ aim To identify the preferences, needs, and wishes of informal caregivers regarding the organization of care for a care-dependent elderly relative
Summary
Informal caregivers are an essential pillar for ensuring and maintaining the outpatient care of the frail elderly. The number of people aged 60 and older is expected to grow from 962 million in 2017 to 21 billion in 2050 [1] in Europe. This global phenomenon affects most countries worldwide, whereas the speed of increase and the proportion of elderly differs between countries. Plöthner et al BMC Geriatrics (2019) 19:82 to professional care [7] These trends combined with the growing number of elderly and people in need of care as well as the shortage of formal and qualified caregivers pose a big challenge for the future regarding the structure and organization of long-term care for most countries
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