Search

While work-care reconciliation strategies can benefit family carers, employers, wider society and the economy, juggling family caregiving responsibilities with paid employment can lead to role strain. Family carers frequently find themselves engaged in role decisions and role negotiations and being faced with decisions to alter their work commitments in order to fulfil their caregiving responsibilities. The purpose of this study was to explore family carers' experiences of modifying work arrangements to accommodate caregiving responsibilities for an ill or dependant family member. Ten face-to-face, semi-structured interviews were conducted with family carers in Ireland, which were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim and analysed using thematic content analysis. The findings highlighted the value placed on work by family carers, but despite this, the caring role always took precedence over the employee role. Family carers adopted a combination of strategies, and where possible, carved out a carer-friendly career for themselves. The findings also revealed the key triggers for work alterations and the sacrifices made by family carers. It is important that family carers are supported by employers to successfully balance work with caregiving responsibilities and that an array of work options are available to them, so that they can make better-informed choices regarding work-care reconciliation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic public health and social protective measures imposed globally resulted in partial or full closure of key services and supports for services and supports for people with a disability, chronic illness or age-related dependency. This caused huge disruption to care provision and family carers were relied upon to assume this care at home. Many family carers, including those in employment, found themselves navigating additional care responsibilities without 'usual levels' of support from family, friends, work, school, day care services, homecare and community services. The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on family carers, their employment and care-giving responsibilities, through the lens of the Conservation of Resources (COR) theory (Hobfoll, 1989). Adopting a qualitative research approach, 16 family carers (14 females, 2 males) who were in employment prior to the onset of or during the pandemic, participated in an in-depth, semi-structured telephone or online video interview between June and September 2020. Interviews lasted between 45 and 100 min, were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim. A thematic analysis of the interview data identified four main themes: colliding worlds; navigating unchartered waters alone; opportunity despite adversity and the relentless unknowing. Findings indicate that the onset of the pandemic resulted in the sudden loss of valued resources, which disrupted routines and caused care and work life domains to become intrinsically intertwined. Consistent with the main principles of the COR theory, adapting and transitioning to different ways of working and caring with depleted resources and supports, generated considerable stress for family carers and impacted their well-being. The implications for employers, healthcare providers, policy makers and other key stakeholders are considered, to enable family carers to successfully reconcile work with care and protect their well-being, as the pandemic continues to unfold and in the event of future societal crises., (© 2021 The Authors. Health and Social Care in the Community published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

This is an open letter to acknowledge the essential and increasingly challenging role unpaid family carers are playing in the COVID-19 pandemic. The letter is written by members of the CAREWELL team, a HRB-funded project that aims to promote health and self-care behaviours among working family carers. Family carers provide care to family and friends in the community who need support due to old-age, disability and chronic illness. In many cases, family carers are supporting those who are considered most at risk in this pandemic meaning carers must reduce their own risk of infection in order to protect their dependent family members. The temporary reduction of some home care services, as well as school and creche closures, means that family carers are providing increased levels of care with little or no support. At a time when both worlds of work and care have been dramatically transformed, we wish to shed light on those who are currently balancing paid employment with a family caregiving role. We argue that there is much to be learned from the recent work restrictions that could benefit employees, including working family carers, beyond this pandemic. We also wish to build on the potential positives of a transformed society and encourage policy makers and employers to focus on what is currently being implemented, and to identify which measures could be used to create a bedrock of policies and practices that would offer robust and effective support to family carers. It is hoped that family carers will receive greater recognition for the significant role they play in society, providing essential care and alleviating the strain on health and social care systems, both during and post the COVID-19 pandemic., Competing Interests: No competing interests were disclosed., (Copyright: © 2020 Phillips D et al.)