The Dutch Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport ('Ministerie van VWS'), the Netherlands Institute for Social Research ('SCP'), and the Dutch National Statistical Office '(CBS'), have indicated that in the Netherlands millions of people fulfill informal care tasks. Informal care involves the unpaid provision of care and assistance to a beloved other person (e.g., father or mother, spouse or child, good friend or neighbor, etc.) who suffers from a health problem.
It is known that mental health issues and functioning problems are prevalent among informal caregivers. Accordingly, to help and assist Dutch informal caregivers, it is important to understand and address the factors that have a role in the health, well-being, and functioning, of informal caregivers. Therefore, APH has initiated, and supports, the project entitled: 'Meaningful societal participation and perceived needs of (working) informal caregivers of patients with advanced chronic diseases, and their determinants; a mixed method study'.
The project focuses on societal participation of Dutch informal caregivers and the meaningfulness that Dutch informal caregivers attach to these participation activities. In this project, Dutch informal caregivers track and record their daily activities with a tailored version of the Whereabouts smartphone app, and complete a questionnaire. It is examined whether optimal ‘societal participation- meaningfulness & intensity’-profiles contribute to the health, well-being, and functioning of informal caregivers.
In addition, informal caregivers are interviewed about their Whereabouts-‘societal participation – meaningfulness & intensity’-profile, and asked to explain in their own words how they value their participation in society in relation to their caregiver activities. The outcomes of the research are expected to contribute to efforts aimed at helping and supporting Dutch informal caregivers, and will be disseminated to researchers and stakeholder organizations whose mission it is to provide care and assistance to caregivers.
Contact: Edwin Boezeman: e.j.boezeman@amsterdamumc.nl