A book on Supporting Family Carers of Old people in Europe: The National Background Report for Malta by Prof. Joseph Troisi and Mr Marvin Formosa from the European Centre of Gerontology and Geriatrics at the University of Malta has been published.

The book launch was presided over by Parliamentary Secretary for the Elderly and Community Care, Helen D`Amato.

This publication is a first nation-wide report concerning the state of family members taking care of older relatives in Malta. It investigates the socio-economic conditions of these carers, while analysing their changing role and status, their needs and problems resulting from the various changes which the Maltese society and family is passing through, and comes up with a number of recommendations.

Mrs D’Amato said that in Malta the care for the elderly is still provided by the family members in the informal sector, even though there is available an extensive formal care provision in the field of ageing, which is aimed at improving the quality of life of the elderly while maintaining them in their own homes.

The study highlights the demographic as well as the cultural changes which have been influencing our society at large and in particular the family. Among the emerging trends of family changes, one notes the reduction in family size and their dispersion as well as the changing role of women. Consequently, the needs of the frail elderly can no longer be met by the family alone without the support of specialised programmes and services sponsored by the state.

The Parliamentary Secretary spoke of the incentives that the government has introduced over the past years in view of these demographic changes.