Formal and informal care: discontinuities in a continuum

Informal caregiving by family, friends, neighbors, and self-help groups is being given greater attention as human-service policy seeks to establish a continuum of care knitting together professional efforts and informal helping. However, there are many contradictions in assumptions and perspectives about who should handle problems and in what way. Alternative modes of interaction are outlined to indicate the variety of relationships that have developed in response to differences in assumptions about care. Collaboration between formal and informal helping efforts requires that the informal sector be able to influence professional and organizational expectations regarding responsibility, authority, and credibility.