Sweden

Little is known about the dyadic experience over time of people with dementia and their next of kin. The aim of this study was to investigate the state of mind of people with dementia, their next of kin’s experience of burden and satisfaction, and factors associated with these experiences over a 3-year period. The sample consisted of 32 people with dementia living at home with family caregivers in the south of Sweden.

The aim of this study was to gain knowledge about the specific needs that a web-based support system for young carers (YCs) must meet. Twelve young people with experience of caring for and supporting a close friend, partner or relative with mental illness (MI) were interviewed about their life situation, support needs and opinions about a hypothetical web-based support system. The transcribed interviews were analysed using content analysis.

This study describes and analyses the kinds of support received by different categories of informal carers, and the kinds of help that care recipients receive in addition to that provided by various categories of carers. Data were collected in a Swedish county in 2000, by means of telephone interviews. The net sample consisted of 2,697 individuals 18–84 years old, and the response rate was 61%. The results showed that relatively few carers in any care category received any kind of support aimed directly at them as carers.

Government policy in Sweden, as in other developed countries, pays increasing attention as to how best to support the family carers of older people. New and innovative means of support, such as information and communication technology, are emerging. This paper explores the perceived benefits of, and barriers to, information technology as a means of supporting family carers of older people.

Recent changes in older people's public care services in Nordic countries in particular in Finland and Sweden are based on implicit expectations that family members will increase their involvement in care. In Nordic countries, the care of small children has been acknowledged to be a social matter that concerns gender equality and the work life participation of both men and women, while the situation of working carers of older people is much less acknowledged.

Dementia of the Alzheimer type and related disorders greatly impact not only on the lives of sufferers but also on their unpaid informal carers, who usually are spouses or children. Carers are more likely to suffer from stress, take prescribed medication and visit their physicians compared with non-carers (Burns and Rabins, 2000). Social isolation that can occur in caregiving may mean that carers may only come to the attention of formal support services when a crisis occurs and informal care arrangements break down (Wenger, 1994).

In this article, we explore the interaction between female and male employment, parenting responsibilities and family policy in Russia and Sweden. The study is based first on indicators of public social services, assistance for families and labour force data; and second, on the ISSP modules on Family and Changing Gender Roles (years 1994, 2002). The results show that both Sweden and Russia facilitate the 'dual-earner' family model, but that Sweden places a greater emphasis on dual-caring and flexible work arrangements for women.

AIM: This paper reports a study to investigate coping strategies and sense of coherence in relation to gender, the extent of care, caregiving activities and health-related quality of life in a population-based sample of caregivers aged 75 and over.

Objective: To estimate the value of informal care in Alzheimer's disease using contingent valuation.

Methods: A questionnaire was administered to 517 primary carers in four countries (UK, Spain, Sweden, and US). Dichotomous choice and bidding game methods were used to elicit their willingness to pay for a reduction in care burden by 1 h per day, or a total elimination of care needs. Further, the relationship between carer willingness to pay and carer and patient characteristics including disease severity and income was examined.