Informal Family Carers’ Need for State-Guaranteed Support. What are the Implications for Social Policy?

Abstract

The article uses an interpretive and qualitative framework to analyze elderly care policy with a focus on the instrumental effectiveness of this policy. The framework of the research offers an understanding of informal carers needs for formal support at the level of social policy measures. The micro-level inquiry, i.e., interviews with informal elderly carers, both revealing caregiver burden and evaluating their need for formal (social policy) support, is demonstrating how qualitative inquiry can inform about shortages of this policy. The findings of the research suggest that formal support for informal caregivers in Lithuania is not adequate to their multifaceted care burden and should be therefore developed to encompass both direct and indirect support measures for informal carers.