Self-help as a relief strategy for Turkish family caregiver of people with dementia? A Scoping Review

Abstract

Abstract Background The number of dementia patients with a migration background is rising in the process of demographic change in Germany. For people with a migration background, care is usually provided at home and is accompanied by an increased burden on relatives. Alleviating support services are rarely used. Methods The scoping review on burden and self-help as a relief strategy for Turkish family caregiver of people with dementia includes the databases PubMed, Livivo, CINAHL and Web of Science and is completed by a ’by hand’ analysis in Google and Google Scholar. A total of 24 publications were included in the analysis. Results Family caregiver of Turkish origin show a high degree of willingness to assume responsibility for care, show knowledge deficits with regard to support services and are exposed to heterogeneous burdens. People with a migration background hardly make use of self-help. Self-help as a relief strategy could be strengthened by needs-oriented and culturally diverse services. Conclusions There is a need for action to improve domestic care for people with a migrant background. This requires the involvement of stakeholders such as those in need of care, caring relatives and professional carers. Self-help for people with a migration background can be activated and promoted with target group-oriented approaches. The support measures should be designed to be sensitive to diversity and correspond to the heterogeneity of the users and their life situations. Key messages Self-help for migrants must be flexible and user-oriented. Diversity-sensitivity in self-help could address people who are difficult to reach.