Informal care to old aged dependents in Chile: who are their careguivers and what social policy do they count on?

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate the sociocultural situation of the informal care given to old aged dependents in Chile. This empiric qualitative study was performed in the Santiago de Chile Metropolitan Area, with informal caregivers of old aged people with dependencies, from the low and mid-low socioeconomic level. The main findings point out that care giving was a duty of the families –the women– with the Chilean state playing a subsidiary role.

Keywords

• cuidadores
• discapacitado
• vejez
• política social