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Aktuelle Befunde zu „distance caregiving“

Was wissen wir und was (noch) nicht?

Current findings on distance caregiving

What do we know and what do we not (yet) know?

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Zusammenfassung

Hintergrund

Demografischer Wandel, zunehmende Arbeitsmobilität und veränderte Familienmuster führen zu sozialen Beziehungen oft über große Entfernungen hinweg. Die Unterstützung von Angehörigen auf Distanz ist aber ein im deutschsprachigen Raum kaum diskutiertes Thema. Das Projekt „DiCa“ (2016–2019) untersucht verschiedene Dimensionen von Distance caregiving.

Ziel der Arbeit

Die aktuelle Forschung zu Merkmalen dieser Pflegearrangements ist dargestellt, u. a. dahinterstehende Herausforderungen, Strategien, Rahmenbedingungen.

Material und Methode

Systematische Literaturanalyse.

Ergebnisse

Die fast ausschließlich angloamerikanischen Studien zeichnen ein klares Bild, wer Distance caregivers sind – nämlich vornehmlich gut ausgebildete (Schwieger‑)Töchter, die neben Besuchen vor Ort wesentliche organisatorische, koordinierende und emotionale Leistungen erbringen. Die Distanz erschwert den Informationsfluss über den Gesundheitszustand der Pflegebedürftigen und schränkt die Möglichkeiten ein, kurzfristig auf Bedürfnisse oder Krisen zu reagieren. Distance caregivers sind häufig verstärkt finanziell und auch emotional durch fehlende Kontrolle vor Ort belastet, auch wenn sich einige Strategien zur Unterstützung im Pflegealltag und zur Vereinbarkeit von Pflege und Beruf zeigen, wie Notfallmanagement, Netzwerke vor Ort oder flexible Arbeitszeiten.

Schlussfolgerung

Im deutschsprachigen Raum fehlt einschlägige Forschung zu Distance caregiving. Prävalenzzahlen sind international nicht immer eindeutig, und es mangelt an fundiertem Wissen über die Bewertung der Pflegearrangements seitens der Distance caregivers, die tatsächliche Rolle der Distanz, Barrieren, Konflikte, effektive Strategien und Lösungsoptionen. Dies gilt für Personen im familiären Pflegesetting, aber auch Versorgungseinrichtungen und Arbeitgeber.

Abstract

Background

Demographic change, increasing work mobility as well as changed family patterns lead to social relationships over long distances; however, support from relatives from a distance is hardly debated in the German-speaking region. The project “DiCa” (2016–2019) studies various dimensions of long-distance caregiving.

Objective

This article presents the state of the art in research on specific characteristics of care arrangements from a distance. In addition, it presents the underlying challenges, strategies, and supportive as well as hindering conditions.

Material and methods

Systematic literature review.

Results

These studies, conducted largely in the Anglo-American region, draw a clear picture of who distance caregivers are (in general well-educated daughters or daughters-in-law) and that they make a substantial contribution to care in terms of organization, coordination, and emotional support in addition to visits. Distance impedes the flow of information about the health condition of the person in need of care and limits the possibilities to react to the needs at short notice or in crisis situations. Distance caregivers are often faced by financial as well as emotional burdens due to the care situation and lack of control even if there are some support strategies and compatibility between care and occupation, e.g. emergency management, local support networks, flexible working arrangements.

Conclusion

In the German-speaking region, pertinent studies on long-distance caregiving are missing. Internationally, the numbers of cases are not always clear and there is a lack of sound knowledge on the assessment of the care arrangements on the part of the distance caregiver, the actual role of the distance, specific barriers, conflicts, effective strategies and solution options. This applies to people in family homecare as well primary care facilities and employers.

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Notes

  1. https://www.destatis.de/DE/ZahlenFakten/LaenderRegionen/Internationales/Thema/Tabellen/Basistabelle_BNE.html.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Evangelische Hochschule Ludwigsburg, Paulusweg 6, 71638, Ludwigsburg, Deutschland

    Annette Franke & Pirkko Marit Jann

  2. Institut für Gerontologie, Universität Heidelberg, Bergheimer Str. 20, 69120, Heidelberg, Deutschland

    Birgit Kramer

  3. Careum Hochschule Gesundheit, Pestalozzistr. 5, 8032, Zürich, Schweiz

    Karin van Holten, Amelie Zentgraf, Ulrich Otto & Iren Bischofberger

Authors
  1. Annette Franke
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  2. Birgit Kramer
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  3. Pirkko Marit Jann
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  4. Karin van Holten
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  6. Ulrich Otto
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Correspondence to Annette Franke.

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Interessenkonflikt

A. Franke, B. Kramer, P.M. Jann, K. van Holten, A. Zentgraf, U. Otto und I. Bischofberger geben an, dass kein Interessenkonflikt besteht.

Für diesen Beitrag wurden von den Autoren keine Studien an Menschen oder Tieren durchgeführt. Für die aufgeführten Studien gelten die jeweils dort angegebenen ethischen Richtlinien.

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Franke, A., Kramer, B., Jann, P.M. et al. Aktuelle Befunde zu „distance caregiving“. Z Gerontol Geriat 52, 521–528 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00391-019-01596-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00391-019-01596-2

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