Support for informal carers who care for seniors

1 Abstract Informal care is one of the important sources of the help and support provided at home to the seniors requiring the assistance from other people. This topic is highly relevant since it is linked to the growing need of long-term care of seniors reflecting the ageing of population in developed countries. The care provided by informal carers is important also because of the changes in the social services. The changes are related to the shift from institutional care of depending persons including seniors to the social services provided in the natural social environment. Such approach supports the autonomy of clients. This master degree thesis addresses the support of informal carers in the area of the care of non self-sufficient elderly people. The investigation is focused on the needs of informal family caregivers as for the information support, financial support, the support from the social services and the support expected from the services of long-term residential care. The thesis also deals with the motivation of the carers and their understanding of the social context of provided care. The research which is included in the empirical section of the thesis was implemented through qualitative methods, namely using semi-standardized interviews. The interviews with ten informal carers were carried..