Centre for Socio-Economic Research on Ageing, IRCCS INRCA-National Institute of Health and Science on Ageing, 60124 Ancona, Italy.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2022 Mar 26;19(7):3969. doi: 10.3390/ijerph19073969.
When older people become frail with functional limitations, and age alone in place, caring support is fundamental for performing daily living activities. The present study aimed to explore the current role and characteristics of privately hired Personal Care Assistants (PCAs) of older people in Italy, in light of the decreasing care availability of the family and the low provision of public services. In the study "Inclusive ageing in place" (IN-AGE), 120 qualitative interviews were carried out in 2019, involving frail older people living at home in three Italian regions: Lombardy, Marche, and Calabria. A content analysis was conducted, in addition to some simple quantifications of statements. Results showed the support of PCAs in 27 cases, mainly when health issues of seniors were referred. In addition, informal and irregular employment contracts were reported. Moreover, a comparison between PCA and Domestic Home Help (DHH, 44 cases), highlighted how they even more provide very similar functions (i.e., home and personal care). The role of PCA emerged as crucial in Italy, especially in the South. Thus, to boost up home services seems necessary for allowing ageing in place, also by integrating PCAs in formal public Long-Term Care (LTC), and by providing incentive systems for regular hiring.
当老年人因身体虚弱和功能受限而变得脆弱，而年龄本身又成为问题时，护理支持对于他们进行日常生活活动至关重要。本研究旨在探讨意大利私人雇佣的个人护理助理（PCAs）在老年人护理中的当前角色和特点，因为家庭的护理可用性在减少，而公共服务的提供也很低。在“包容性居家养老”（IN-AGE）研究中，2019 年对意大利三个地区（伦巴第、马尔凯和卡拉布里亚）的 120 名体弱老年人进行了 120 次定性访谈。除了对陈述进行一些简单的量化外，还进行了内容分析。结果显示，在 27 个案例中，PCA 提供了支持，主要是在老年人出现健康问题时。此外，还报告了非正式和不规则的雇佣合同。此外，PCA 与家庭帮佣（DHH，44 个案例）的比较突出了他们提供的功能非常相似（即家庭和个人护理）。PCA 在意大利的作用至关重要，尤其是在南部地区。因此，加强家庭服务似乎是必要的，这可以通过将 PCA 纳入正式的公共长期护理（LTC）中，并提供定期雇佣的激励制度来实现。
