Home Nursing in Europe

The increase in the number and life expectancy of elderly people is a general trend across Europe. Each country responds differently to the consequent change in the demand for elderly care, due to differences in their socio-cultural, political and historical backgrounds. This book describes the different patterns of caregiving to frail elderly people in Denmark, France, the Netherlands and Germany. For each country, characteristic features of professional and informal elderly care are described, thereby specifically focussing on the domain and profession of home nursing. In order to find explanations and backgrounds for the differences in home nursing in these four countries, these are described from a broad sociological and cultural perspective. Specific developments and problems in home care and informal care are related to differences between countries in the relations between health care professions and health care sectors, structures and ways of financing of health care systems, the role of the family in caregiving to elderly people, and in social, cultural and political norms and values regarding health and illness. This way, insight is gained into country-specific pat-terns of provision and differences in socio-cultural views on how adequate care for vulnerable elderly people should be arranged.