Informal caregivers' experiences of support in elderly care: a Norwegian exploratory interview study

Background As aging populations increase and formal care services struggle to meet caregiving demands, informal caregivers are becoming key to elderly care services. While the strategy of many European countries is to provide informal caregivers with formal support structures, little is known about the support experiences of informal caregivers to the elderly. In Norway, where policy prioritises home-based aging, informal caregivers face complex, long-term roles shaped by uneven service access, emotional strain, and limited support. This study explores how informal caregivers experience support within the elderly care context in Norway. Methods This study has a qualitative explorative design, in which individual semi-structured interviews were conducted with fifteen participants from four Norwegian municipalities. Data were analysed following Braun and Clarke’s reflexive thematic analysis approach, resulting in three main themes holding a total of thirteen subthemes. Results Informal caregivers’ experiences of support were shaped by a triad of support influences: 1) individual sources of support, such as adaptations to the role and personal competencies, 2) informal sources of support, such as family contributions and comparisons with other caregivers, and 3) systemic sources of support, such as alleviation by services and recognition of caregivers. All the themes and subthemes are presented and discussed with reference to the Caringscape/Carescape framework developed by Bowlby and McKie. Conclusion While informal caregivers generally appreciated elderly care services in Norway, their overall accounts demonstrate that the non-tacit interactions between them, the services and other family members and friends shape their support experiences within elderly care. The study highlights how support is negotiated in a hectic caregiving environment where the individuals' own characteristics allow for the interpretation of whether externally received support by the services is useful or not. The findings challenge standardised support measures and suggest the need for future studies and intervention of service improvement to further explore holistic supportive structures withing the elderly care context, enabling more in-depth consideration of informal caregivers' support experiences.