When Services Empower or Disempower Family Caregivers

Few studies have integrated the concept of empowerment in their analysis of the interaction between formal services & informal caregivers. This study was conducted among 32 female informal caregivers living in a district served by a Montreal local community service center (CLSC). It was designed to identify those aspects of formal services that either empowered caregivers or increased their powerlessness. Three major issues were identified: norms applicable to care giving; access to & control over resources & services; & power relationships with practitioners. Depending on their context & their perception of their role as a caregiver, caregivers reported that their recourse to services was either an empowering experience or one that increased their powerlessness. 2 Tables, 43 References. Adapted from the source document.