Sociolinguistic and statistical methods to survey the communicative needs of home-assisted elderly, their families, and foreign caregivers in Northern Italy
Capitolo
Data di Pubblicazione:
2022
Citazione:
Sociolinguistic and statistical methods to survey the communicative needs of home-assisted elderly, their families, and foreign caregivers in Northern Italy / D. Russo, D. Grechi, A. Vicentini, K. Grego (LITERATURE/LANGUAGE). - In: Seniors, foreign caregivers, families, institutions : Linguistic and multidisciplinary perspectives / [a cura di] B.H. Davis, A. Vicentini, K. Grego. - [s.l] : Mimesis, 2022. - ISBN 9788869773716. - pp. 21-66
Abstract:
This contribution reports on the latest developments of Age.
Vol.A. (Ageing, Volunteers, Assistants. Multilingual tools for assisting the
ageing), an ongoing funded research project on ageing issues in Northern
Italy’s Varese province. Its main aim is to facilitate communication between
the home-assisted elderly, their families, and foreign caregivers and, in so
doing, ultimately improve elderly care.
After statistically analysing the socio-demographic background of the
geographical area involved, the study describes how surveying tools to
obtain information from the three groups addressed were devised. Based on a
multidisciplinary methodological approach drawing upon sociolinguistics,
socio-anthropology and statistics, these tools were first submitted only to
the home-assisted elderly’s families and relatives, from whom secondary
data about the home-assisted seniors and foreign carers were also obtained.
Findings highlight that the latter are mainly migrants from Eastern
Europe and Central and South America, who have been working with their
current senior for less than two years. A large portion of the sample works
more than five days a week and more than 20 hours a week. Finally, most
of the caregivers spend almost as much time with their seniors than before
the current global pandemic, which means that COVID-19 has had no
major impact on their working lives.
Tipologia IRIS:
03 - Contributo in volume
Keywords:
Northern Italy; elderly care; foreign caregivers; intercultural and intergenerational communication; sociolinguistics, statistics
Elenco autori:
D. Russo, D. Grechi, A. Vicentini, K. Grego
Link alla scheda completa:
Titolo del libro:
Seniors, foreign caregivers, families, institutions : Linguistic and multidisciplinary perspectives