Parama neformaliems pagyvenusių asmenų globėjams socialinės politikos kontekste

LTParama neformaliems pagyvenusių asmenų globėjams tampa svarbi tiek dėl siekio sumažinti globėjams tenkančią naštą, tiek dėl galimybės išsaugoti neformalius globėjus kaip globos išteklius, padedančius padengti formalių globėjų trūkumą bei sutaupyti valstybei lėšų. Šiame straipsnyje atskleidžiamas paramos neformaliems globėjams fenomeno daugiaprasmiškumas, siekiant pagrįsti siūlomą modelį šios paramos politikos vertinimui. Straipsnyje pasitelkiama Twigg ir Atkin (2002) pasiūlyta paslaugų globėjams schema bei keturios teorinės prieigos – sveikatos paslaugų naudojimo elgsenos modelis, į praktiką orientuotas paslaugų modelis, globėjo tapatumo teorija, ekonominė rinkos nesėkmių prieiga, – kurios leido pažvelgti į fenomeną įvairiais aspektais ir lygmenimis. Šie aspektai yra įkomponuoti į paramos neformaliems globėjams vertinimo modelį, kuris gali būti naudojamas socialinėje politikoje planuojant paramos poreikį ir perspektyvas. [Iš leidinio]Reikšminiai žodžiai: Senyvi (pagyvenę) žmonės; Neformali globa; Globėjai; Parama; Paramos vertinimas; Elderly; Care; Informal carers; Support; Assessment.

ENWhen caring for their elderly relatives, informal carers find themselves in an ambiguous situation, because by helping others, they themselves become people who need help in reducing both the health and financial difficulties of caring. Support for informal carers of the elderly is becoming important both because of the need to reduce the burden on carers and because of the possibility of preserving informal carers as care resources to cover the shortage of formal carers and to save public money. A review of the literature reveals that in the limited field of research on informal care, research on the experience of family members caring for elderly relatives dominates in Lithuania, without distinguishing the aspect of support for carers as a separate object of research. This may be one of the reasons why support for informal caregivers has not acquired at least some clearer outlines in Lithuanian social policy. Thus, the aim of this article is to reveal the multifaceted nature of support for informal carers as a research phenomenon and to present a model for evaluating support for informal carers. The article uses the scheme of services for caregivers proposed by Twigg and Atkin (2002) and four theoretical approaches – behavioral model of health service utilization, practice-oriented service model, caregiver identity theory, economic theory of market failure, which allowed to look at the phenomenon in different aspects and levels.Summarizing the factors of use of support for informal carers singled out in different theoretical approaches, it can be stated that the use of this support depends on factors characterizing the potential recipient (e.g. age, perceived need for support, etc.), factors characterizing potential providers (e.g. organizations structure, dissemination of information, etc.) and from factors describing the context in which the services are provided (e.g. social norms, culture, etc.). The model of evaluation of support for informal carers based on the theoretical analysis of the concept of support for informal caregivers and proposed in the article creates preconditions for systematically assessing the status of this support and its need in the future. The proposed model for assessing support for informal carers includes three blocks: levels of support for informal carers; areas and measures of support for informal carers; preconditions for (non) use of support. The model is not finite and can be extended through other theoretical approaches and indicators. [From the publication]