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Articles on Caregiving

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Technology can be used to support the caregivers of people living with dementia, however, developers and designers need to take caregiver needs into consideration. Shutterstock

Using technology to support caregivers of older people with dementia

Technological solutions may help to relieve the burden of care for family, service providers and caregivers working with the elderly.
Daily tasks such as cooking and cleaning are out of the reach of many seniors. Nancy Beijersbergen/Shutterstock.com

Most caregivers of people with dementia are family members, and they need help

November is National Family Caregivers Month; did they get your attention? If not, you are not alone. Family caregivers are overlooked by the health care system, and they are burning out. Here’s why.
This photo was taken at a resort just outside Chennai, India that caters to medical tourists following discharge from hospital. (V.A. Crooks)

Consider this advice before travelling abroad for health care

Informal caregivers play a vital role in medical tourism yet find themselves unprotected as “shadow workers” in a multi-billion dollar industry.
Up to 80 per cent of community care for older adults is provided by unpaid informal caregivers. In the absence of government supports, many of them struggle with exhaustion, stress and depression. (Shutterstock)

Stressed and exhausted caregivers need better support

Informal caregivers contribute $25 million to the Canadian economy in unpaid labour, receiving virtually no financial support or emotional respite. More web-based interventions could help.
Most caregivers today are assisting their relatives. What will happen in the years ahead? ChaiyonS021/Shutterstock.com

Why the daunting economics of elder care are about to get much worse

The demographics, which include declining numbers of adult children free to step up and potentially fewer immigrants, suggest that this big problem society faces will get bigger.
Those caring for spouses with dementia are often isolated, lonely and emotionally overwhelmed. (Shutterstock)

Is it adultery if my spouse doesn’t know who I am anymore?

With people living longer lives and dementia on the rise, it’s time to consider whether it’s verboten for spouses acting as full-time caregivers to seek love and comfort outside their marriages.
Robots can also lend a hand of sorts. Photographee.eu/Shutterstock.com

How robots could help bridge the elder-care gap

Robots have the potential to help support a growing population that wants to age in their own homes. But those helpful machines won’t be the humanoid butlers of science fiction.
Friendship helps protect against loneliness even when oldsters do not have dementia. It can be especially beneficial for those who do. sirtravelalot/Shutterstock.com

How being friends with someone who has dementia can be good for you both

A recent study finds that friends ought not let friends with dementia be lonely. The surprising part? Why staying friends is good for the friend without dementia as well as for the one who has it.
The number of men married to each other who have children is rising following legal rulings about marriage equality. Shutterstock

How families with 2 dads raise their kids

Research reveals few differences between the parenting of gay men and their straight peers. But it looks like gay fathers could be more apt to volunteer at their children’s schools.
An ill Anna Bosigo is fed by volunteer worker Lydia Mbhalo in the Orange Farm township, south of Johannesburg. Reuters/Siphiwe Sibeko

South Africa isn’t budgeting for its care economy. What can be done about it

Social welfare budgets have simply not been adequate to plug decades’ worth of under-resourcing, especially in black communities. It’s a good place for government to start giving life to its slogans
Mothers and their babies at a clinic in Johannesburg. South Africa leads the Global South with its expansive social protection programme. Reuters

Lessons from South Africa on why gender matters in social welfare policies

The gendered nature of social welfare is invisible and taken for granted – particularly in development contexts.It’s time to debate a more gender-sensitive and equitable welfare agenda in the South.

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