Care of People Living with Dementia in Bulgaria: Between Over-Responsibility to the Family and Distrust in Public Health Services and Policies

Thirty years after the transition to democracy in Bulgaria, there is a lack of social and community support for people living with dementia and for their families and caregivers. Both residential and assisted living facilities in the country have remained both unpopular and underdeveloped, and based...

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Main Authors: Goncharova Galina, Karamelska Teodora
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: De Gruyter 2024-03-01
Series:Comparative Southeast European Studies
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1515/soeu-2023-0015
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author Goncharova Galina
Karamelska Teodora
author_facet Goncharova Galina
Karamelska Teodora
author_sort Goncharova Galina
collection DOAJ
description Thirty years after the transition to democracy in Bulgaria, there is a lack of social and community support for people living with dementia and for their families and caregivers. Both residential and assisted living facilities in the country have remained both unpopular and underdeveloped, and based on in-depth biographical and expert interviews and focus groups, we shall discuss the subjective experience of informal caregivers of people living with dementia, accumulated in the confined space of home and family. We shall try to show how inconsistent application of the European Union’s social policies as well as the existence of enduring socio-cultural stereotypes relating to parental care places caregivers in passive, but over-responsible and implicitly critical positions towards the management both of public and private services for older people in Bulgaria.
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spelling doaj-art-daa4d46776ee4c28aa78df13e454f7e72025-08-20T02:42:59ZengDe GruyterComparative Southeast European Studies2701-81992701-82022024-03-01721588210.1515/soeu-2023-0015Care of People Living with Dementia in Bulgaria: Between Over-Responsibility to the Family and Distrust in Public Health Services and PoliciesGoncharova Galina0Karamelska Teodora1Department of History and Theory of Culture, Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski”, Sofia, BulgariaDepartment of Philosophy and Sociology, New Bulgarian University, Sofia, BulgariaThirty years after the transition to democracy in Bulgaria, there is a lack of social and community support for people living with dementia and for their families and caregivers. Both residential and assisted living facilities in the country have remained both unpopular and underdeveloped, and based on in-depth biographical and expert interviews and focus groups, we shall discuss the subjective experience of informal caregivers of people living with dementia, accumulated in the confined space of home and family. We shall try to show how inconsistent application of the European Union’s social policies as well as the existence of enduring socio-cultural stereotypes relating to parental care places caregivers in passive, but over-responsible and implicitly critical positions towards the management both of public and private services for older people in Bulgaria.https://doi.org/10.1515/soeu-2023-0015care of people living with dementiabiographical narrativessocial and health servicesdeinstitutionalizationfamilialism
spellingShingle Goncharova Galina
Karamelska Teodora
Care of People Living with Dementia in Bulgaria: Between Over-Responsibility to the Family and Distrust in Public Health Services and Policies
Comparative Southeast European Studies
care of people living with dementia
biographical narratives
social and health services
deinstitutionalization
familialism
title Care of People Living with Dementia in Bulgaria: Between Over-Responsibility to the Family and Distrust in Public Health Services and Policies
title_full Care of People Living with Dementia in Bulgaria: Between Over-Responsibility to the Family and Distrust in Public Health Services and Policies
title_fullStr Care of People Living with Dementia in Bulgaria: Between Over-Responsibility to the Family and Distrust in Public Health Services and Policies
title_full_unstemmed Care of People Living with Dementia in Bulgaria: Between Over-Responsibility to the Family and Distrust in Public Health Services and Policies
title_short Care of People Living with Dementia in Bulgaria: Between Over-Responsibility to the Family and Distrust in Public Health Services and Policies
title_sort care of people living with dementia in bulgaria between over responsibility to the family and distrust in public health services and policies
topic care of people living with dementia
biographical narratives
social and health services
deinstitutionalization
familialism
url https://doi.org/10.1515/soeu-2023-0015
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