II. International British Congress on Interdisciplinary Scientific Research & Practices
A FAMILY-BASED APPROACH IN THE CARE ECONOMY
Yayıncı:
Liberty Publications
While family carers supply the bulk of caring in most countries, including North Macedonia, a family based approach is lacking in the design and delivery of services, where every member of the family is empowered to make their choices and to access sufficient resources, time arrangements and services to live in dignified conditions and fully participate in society; but also where no family should be excluded because of their composition, economic resources or the disability status of one of their members. The aim of this paper is to explore the potential for incorporation of a family-based approach in the design and delivery of care services within the care economy. The specific objectives of this paper are: to conduct a comprehensive review of existing national legal and policy framework and international guidelines on family-based approaches and to assess the current landscape of care services, the effectiveness of and challenges in implementation of existing care service models and the level of family involvement in these practices. A qualitative methodology was employed, based on literature review and secondary data analysis, semi-structured interviews with key government stakeholders and focus group discussions with formal and informal caregivers and care recipients. A total of n=45 individuals participated in the study. The results showed that there are efforts to incorporate a family-based approach in the care economy, especially through the adoption of new social protection law. The current benefits and services in North Macedonia follow an integrated life-cycle approach, however they are limited in number, forms, geographical distribution and quality. Affordability for the services is hampered by the low economic status of the families. Yet, in some cases co-payment was a solution for some families.
