[Functional level, care needs and family-based care for home-care recipients with extended care needs]. / Funktionsförmåga, tillsynsbehov och familjebaserade insatser för vårdtagare med stora hjälpbehov i hemvård.

A study of home care and home health services was undertaken in three Swedish municipalities. Persons who received extended home care and home health care were interviewed. The interviews covered different themes such as impairments, care needs, functions and activities in the horizontal social network (the informal network), and opinions concerning how care is and should be provided. A modified ADL-index was used to assess the functional level of daily living. Care needs were measured by the judgement of the care recipient, and by the interviewer's judgement. The correspondence between these measures was high, with some exceptions. Lower correspondence between the measures was obtained for three categories of care recipients: individuals with communicative dysfunctions, younger individuals with reduced ability to move and, thirdly, individuals with psychosocial problems. Problems concerning measurement of care given by family members were also identified and discussed.

[For better, for worse. A study of women caring for relatives]. / I nöd och lust. En studie av kvinnor som vårdar en närstående.

Eight women who all were engaged in care for a relative of some kind were interviewed. The women were of different age. The conclusions drawn from this case study are mainly of a hypothesis-generating character. Knowing a lot about few people facilitates an exposition of possible relations. Some of the women performed extensive and forgoing efforts, often unsalaried. Caregiving relatives in such a situation is a group at risk from a health political perspective. Wives living together with the care subject their husband, seem to be especially exposed to risk. It is an important task for the social services to be aware of the vulnerable situation for the caregiving relatives. The analysis of caregiving situations is made at three levels--the valuation, the practical action and the experience. No absolute relationship between these three levels could be found. Three mechanisms seem to be important for the experience of the caregiver, namely the incentives for making these efforts, the autonomy and being visible.