The Intergenerational family solidarity eyes of caregivers

This bachelor thesis deals with the problems of intergenerational family solidarity from the viewpoint of the caregivers. The main objective consists in charting factors that influence the living together of caregivers and old age pensioners in one household. The thesis is comprised of a theoretical and explorative part. The theoretical part is focused on assessing the current state of intergenerational living together, use of social services, care for an old age pensioner in a home environment, needs ensuing from the old age and last but not least on the mental health of the caregiver. The chapter of my thesis called current state is concentrated on the intergenerational relations. I mentioned the concepts of the so-called "sandwich family" and family solidarity. The following part has been devoted to the old age, its needs and physiological changes that occur at this age. In the subsequent chapter called the care for an old age pensioner in a home environment I was trying to define both the form of the care for the pensioner which is provided by the family member, risks arising from this situation and the importance of the care for the person who provides care for the pensioner. Last part is devoted to the mental health of caregivers. The objective of my thesis can be found in the explorative part. I charted the factors of living together of pensioners and caregivers in one household. I asked a main explorative question: "How do caregivers see the intergenerational living together in one household?" The main explorative question was devided further into five partial explorative questions. "How does a caregiver see the pros and cons of the living together with the pensioner?" "How does the caregiver view the situation in the future when there is a real threat of deterioration?" "How does the caregiver use the social services while caring for the pensioner?" "How is the mental health of caregivers going?" "What other resources does the family use?" I decided to select the strategy of qualitative research in order to detect the information. The data were collected by means of making inquiries and by leading a semi-structured interview. The research team was intentionally chosen of quotas and it consisted of seven caregivers who care for the pensioner in a home environment. The research continued by stages, first of all there was a pre-research. Then the actual research followed. All the interviews were recorded on the dictaphon and copied word for word. The collected information was processed through the method of clustering. Consequently, the data were processsed and interpreted through common components. The final data were structured into the separate partial questions. The study follows that partners in the interview lay stress on the high-quality care for their relatives and expect their children to care for them in a similar manner. They´d welcome a certain kind of relief in order to relax and to practise hobbies. Other factors that might influence the living together with the pensioner in one household might be, for example, lack of interest, low awareness of social services, little leisure time, high psychical strenuousness. However, the feelings of satisfaction, certainty and support also played an important role in caring for old people in their home environment. The results may be useful both for students who occupy themselves with problems of intergenerational living together and the old age and also for the general public so that it may realize the difficult situation of caregivers. And last but not least it may be useful for caregivers themselves so that they might be better acquainted with the social services and acquire information about the prevention in the area of mental health