Foster families for older people in Guadeloupe, a little-known model
Type de matériel :
37
Foster families for older people have grown significantly in Overseas France (Guadeloupe, Martinique, Réunion) over the past thirty years, due to local health policies and the social, cultural, and anthropological specificities of the territory. In Guadeloupe, the integration of dependent older people into a foster family is proposed and presented as a real alternative to nursing homes, with a monthly fee directly allocated by the departmental council to the family caregiver. Each foster family is responsible for one to three people aged 60 years or over; the family provides a room in the house for each person and provides them with meals and activities. Foster caregivers and the older people they care for often develop strong relationships. Participation of the residents in the family’s life and close contact with a single referent could have a strong effect on their well-being and feelings of loneliness. We set up two epidemiological studies in Guadeloupe, one in foster families and one in nursing homes, to explore the characteristics of older people in both settings and their care trajectories, for one year, as well as the characteristics of the foster caregivers. In this article, we present the foster family caregivers’ characteristics and roles. This unique model could play a key role in the organization of care in many countries, responding to the societal challenges of intergenerational solidarity. It could also help create jobs, particularly in areas of rural or medical desertification.
Réseaux sociaux