Formal service practitioners' views of family caregivers' responsibilities and difficulties

This article identifies home care practitioners' perceptions of the responsibilities, difficulties, and needs for support of caregivers. It is based on a study undertaken in Quebec with 55 practitioners and 10 administrators from 10 CLSCs located in rural, urban, and metropolitan areas. The study had a qualitative, multiple-case design and used logs recording all contact with caregivers in the space of a week, followed by semi-structured interviews. Analysis reveals that practitioners tend to perceive the work of caregivers as mainly instrumental and clinical, ignoring the family relations that tie them to their relative. Although aware of the difficulties facing caregivers and the negative impacts of caregiving, a majority of practitioners have high expectations of caregiver participation in treatment plans, albeit as quasi-nurse's aides. Our analysis offers an explanation for this apparent contradiction by examining practitioners' values with regard to family responsibility for care.