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Hiring Live-in Migrant Care Workers: Motivations and Experiences of Older People and their Families

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Abstract

The increasing number of older people has a significant impact on the organisation of care in European countries. Formal care services face several limitations, while informal care is decreasing. As a result, older adults search for alternative strategies to meet their care needs. A recent tendency is to hire live-in migrant care workers. This study explores the motivations for and experiences of hiring live-in migrant care workers in Belgium of older people and their families. Using a qualitative study, eight in-depth interviews were conducted with older people or family members who had hired live-in migrant care workers. Additionally, five individual interviews and one focus group (N = 6) with professionals were conducted. Data were thematically analysed, using both deductive and inductive approaches. The main motivations for hiring live-in migrant carers were shortages in the accessibility and availability of formal care service provision and the anticipated benefits offered by live-in carers (i.e. reducing informal carer workloads, guaranteeing person-centred and continuous care, the possibility of ageing in place and delaying entry into residential care). Older people had generally positive experiences of the care provided, both in terms of the task responsibilities and the quality of care. The findings indicate that live-in migrant care workers can meet the demands of person-centred care at home. However, a clear hierarchy between older adults and care providers was identified and questions were raised about the training, insecure employment conditions and legal status of live-in migrant care workers.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Professor Liesbeth De Donder (Vrije Universiteit Brussel) and Professor Dorien Brosens (Vrije Universiteit Brussel) for their reflections and feedback on the study and manuscript.

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  1. Department Educational Sciences, Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), Brussels, Belgium

    Sylvia Hoens & An-Sofie Smetcoren

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  1. Sylvia Hoens
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  2. An-Sofie Smetcoren
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Sylvia Hoens and An-Sofie Smetcoren conceived the study design, supervised the data collection and data analysis. Sylvia Hoens performed the data analysis and took the lead in writing the manuscript. An-Sofie Smetcoren provided critical feedback and helped shape the research, analysis and manuscript.

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Correspondence to Sylvia Hoens.

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Hoens, S., Smetcoren, AS. Hiring Live-in Migrant Care Workers: Motivations and Experiences of Older People and their Families. Population Ageing 16, 497–518 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12062-021-09351-5

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