Difficulties and Needs of Adolescent Young Caregivers of Grandparents in Italy and Slovenia: A Concurrent Mixed-Methods Study.

Many adolescent young caregivers (AYCs) care for a grandparent (GrP) with chronic disease, especially in countries with no or low developed long-term care systems and/or level of awareness of and policy responses to young caregivers. This mixed-methods study aimed at shedding light on the needs and difficulties faced by a sample of 162 adolescents aged 15-17, caring for GrPs, living in Italy (87) and Slovenia (75), respectively. A multiple linear regression model was built for the quantitative data. Qualitative data were content analysed using an open coding process. Italian and Slovenian respondents reported a moderate amount of caring activity and relatively high positive caregiving outcomes. Nevertheless, one out of three AYCs reported health problems due to their caring responsibilities. Compared to their Italian counterparts, Slovenian respondents were supported to a lesser extent by public services. Italian respondents faced communicative and practical problems; Slovenian AYCs experienced mainly emotional discomfort. AYCs from both countries requested emotional and practical support from formal services and family networks. Further, Slovenian AYCs requested emotional support and a personalized learning plan from schoolteachers. Support measures aimed at training AYCs of GrPs on geriatric care are recommended to address specific issues related to ageing and long-term care needs.

Factors Worsening and Mitigating the Consequences of the COVID-19 Outbreak on the Overall Health of Informal Caregivers of Older People with Long-Term Care Needs Living in Germany and in Italy.

Population ageing and the higher prevalence of multimorbidity in later life are increasing the demand for Long-Term Care (LTC) worldwide; this has been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. As in Europe and beyond, the bulk of care for frail older people is carried out by informal caregivers. This study aimed at understanding the factors affecting the overall worsening health of informal caregivers of older people with LTC needs living in Germany and Italy during the outbreak. To this purpose, 319 informal caregivers (149 in Germany and 173 in Italy) were surveyed online in 2020-2021. A logistic regression analysis was performed by country, to obtain an adjusted estimate of the risk of worsening of caregivers' health. This risk increased by 42% for German caregivers compared to Italian ones, despite the former receiving more formal services. This may depend on different quality standards of LTC services and caregivers' expectations, and on differing policies concerning migrant care workers (MCWs) during the outbreak, who could not enter Germany and were "trapped" at care recipients' homes in Italy. Results call for in-home care reforms and policies guaranteeing more effective caregiver support, home care services and fairer working condition for MCWs in both countries.