["work & care" - Combining employment and care: a literature analysis on challenges for family caregivers, companies, and nursing]

[Care-related Termination of Employment among Informal Caregivers of Elderly Persons: Identification of a Risk Profile]

OBJECTIVE

Employed informal caregivers often experience role conflicts between caring for an elderly person in need of care at home and their employment. The goal of this paper was to identify a risk profile of care-related termination of employment.

METHODS

Analyses are based on the cross-sectional Benefits of Being a Caregiver Study (October 2019 - March 2020) with data from 481 informal caregivers of elderly persons in need of care. The data collected relate to characteristics of the care recipient, the informal caregiver, and the caregiving situation, as well as aspects of the employment situation. The risk profile of care-related cessation of employment is based on a binary logistic regression.

RESULTS

Approximately one in nine in the present sample (n=55) terminated employment because of having to offer informal care to an elderly person at home. Factors characterizing the risk profile of a care-related termination of employment were female gender of the caregivers, younger age of the care receiver, co-residence with the care receiver, and a higher care level of the care receiver.

CONCLUSIONS

In order to reduce care-related cessation of employment, support and relief services need to be adapted to the factors of the identified risk profile. In particular, the form and content of informal caregiver counselling should be modified in order to reach informal caregivers at an early stage. Adapted support programs should focus on and reach in particular female employed caregivers.

[Providing knowledge and support for caring relatives with the smartphone - the MoCaB project]

Providing knowledge and support for caring relatives with the smartphone - the MoCaB project Abstract. Background: Caring relatives often have a lack of knowledge of illness and care options. Surveys, as part of the MoCaB (Mobile Care Backup) project, showed that this is often experienced as a burden. Aim: The aim is to support caring relatives by increasing their knowledge. Therefore care-relevant knowledge and instructions for self-care should be provided according to their needs. Methods: The core element of the mobile application, personalized knowledge transfer in dialogue form, will be developed in a participative process with potential users. The relevant evidence-based nursing knowledge was reviewed by experts and written down for the target group. Results: So far, 86 relevant topics have been identified and formulated. First usability tests showed that the content itself, the used expressions and the presentation via the MoCaB app are well received. Outlook: In a next step, the app will be tested in the home setting with caring relatives and, in order to identify any further need and areas for improvement.

Developing a Theoretical Framework Using a Nursing Perspective to Investigate Perceived Health in the “Sandwich Generation” Group

Coexisting workloads from professional, household and family, and caregiving activities for frail parents expose middle-aged individuals, the so-called “Sandwich Generation”, to potential health risks. Current trends suggest that this situation will continue or increase. Thus SG health promotion has become a nursing concern. Most existing research considers coexisting workloads a priori pathogenic. Most studies have examined the association of one, versus two, of these three activities with health. Few studies have used a nursing perspective. This article presents the development of a framework based on a nursing model. We integrated Siegrist’s Effort-Reward Imbalance middle-range theory into “Neuman Systems Model”. The latter was chosen for its salutogenic orientation, its attention to preventive nursing interventions and the opportunity it provides to simultaneously consider positive and negative perceptions of SG health and SG coexisting workloads. Finally, it facilitated a theoretical identification of health protective factors.

University Gynaecology and Obstetrics, quo vadis? A Department of Women's Health-University Women's Hospital of the future?

Purpose

Numerous changes in society, science and health care challenge gynaecology and obstetrics. These challenges include the maintenance of excellence in research, commercial potential and clinical innovation, as well as the maintenance of adequate human resources, new standards for patient orientation and individualised medicine.

Methods

Based on a SWOT analysis of the status quo, of local and national quality data, a search regarding national conceptions and of international best practice for women’s health centres, the model of a Department of Women’s Health was developed.

Results

The Department, consisting of a University Hospital and a Research Institute, should interlink clinical care and science. With the establishment of the department, a pool of expertise is achieved which encompasses gynaecology and obstetrics from basic care to the high-technology segments, as well as all the scientific areas relevant to the medical discipline and women’s health, including health services research. Preservation and attraction of personnel resources are based on the department’s excellence, on reliable perspectives and the flexibility of job profiles, which also result from the close connection between care and research and the expansion of perspectives on women’s health.

Conclusions

Methodological diversity and inter-professionalism build the appropriate base for the further development of research fields. At the same time, the Department creates space for the consolidation of the core areas and the integration of sub-disciplines (clinical and scientific) to maintain the unity of this discipline. Via the scientific monitoring of the implementation, suitable elements can be highlighted for transfer to other facilities.