Family caregiving at the intersection of private care by migrant home care workers and public care by nursing staff

Background: This study evaluated private family caregiving at the intersection of private migrant home care and public nursing care on the hospitalization of an older patient. Methods: Seventy-three individuals were interviewed, including older hospitalized patients, their family members, accompanying migrant home care workers, and nursing personnel. Results: There was no clear consensus concerning the role of family members. Although family members emphasized care management as their main role, the other three groups emphasized that the family members’ mere physical presence was their main role. All four groups identified potential barriers to family caregiving, rather than motives for family caregiving, hence pointing to a potential discrepancy between expected and performed family caregiving roles. Conclusions: An indication of the lack of clarity concerning family caregiving roles stems from the finding that family members were frequently viewed as unengaged and neglectful, yet at times they were criticized for being overly involved in patient care. Implications for the care of hospitalized older adults are discussed.