[Current findings on distance caregiving : What do we know and what do we not (yet) know?]

Demographic change, increasing work mobility as well as changed family patterns lead to social relationships over long distances; however, support from relatives from a distance is hardly debated in the German-speaking region. The project "DiCa" (2016-2019) studies various dimensions of long-distance caregiving.

This article presents the state of the art in research on specific characteristics of care arrangements from a distance. In addition, it presents the underlying challenges, strategies, and supportive as well as hindering conditions.

Systematic literature review.

These studies, conducted largely in the Anglo-American region, draw a clear picture of who distance caregivers are (in general well-educated daughters or daughters-in-law) and that they make a substantial contribution to care in terms of organization, coordination, and emotional support in addition to visits. Distance impedes the flow of information about the health condition of the person in need of care and limits the possibilities to react to the needs at short notice or in crisis situations. Distance caregivers are often faced by financial as well as emotional burdens due to the care situation and lack of control even if there are some support strategies and compatibility between care and occupation, e.g. emergency management, local support networks, flexible working arrangements.

In the German-speaking region, pertinent studies on long-distance caregiving are missing. Internationally, the numbers of cases are not always clear and there is a lack of sound knowledge on the assessment of the care arrangements on the part of the distance caregiver, the actual role of the distance, specific barriers, conflicts, effective strategies and solution options. This applies to people in family homecare as well primary care facilities and employers.