Family care for Europe's senior citizens
EUROFAMCARE, an EC-funded project has provided a European review of the situation of family carers of senior citizens. They have analysed how this relates to the existence, familiarity, availability, use and acceptability of supporting services. A pan-European wide integration of expertise was created via National background reports (NABAREs) from 23 European countries. This was integrated into a Pan-European background report depicting the state of family carers and support services. National surveys assessed 6,000 family care situations in different regional sites, providing a socio-economic evaluation. In particular, the Pan-European background report (PEUBARE) has re-examined the country specific findings and suggestions cross-nationally. In doing so, it offers family carers, policy makers and service providers the latest information regarding support for both family carers and older dependent people. This is a significant accessibility issue in the EU since it relates to quality and sustainability of health care systems, social inclusion and employment. Long-term health care in the EU is divided among the sectors of family and informal care, state or public, voluntary and non-governmental-organisation (NGO) care market or private. The reports take these four sectors into account. The distribution of healthcare provision varies from country to country. It depends on a combination of factors. These include tradition, legal responsibilities, health and social policy, national budgets and wealth and demographic trends regarding fertility levels and life expectancy. Countries whose welfare state is not well-funded and which have a continuing association between poverty and old age are restricted to a low service provision. This provision is based on those able pay or who lack alternative sources of care. However, even countries offering services as a citizen's right unavoidably need to usher in a system of rationing. It was found that in all the 23 EUROFAMCARE countries a large majority of care is provided informally by individual family members. Since it is highly likely that this will remain so in the future, the report also provides advice for improving long-term care methods for senior citizens as well as for the providers themselves.