Baby Boom caregivers: care in the age of individualization.

Purpose: Many Baby Boomers are faced with the care of aging parents, as well as that of disabled or ill spouses or children. This study examines how Baby Boomers in Quebec, Canada, perceive and play their role as caregivers and how this might differ from their parents' generation.

Design And Methods: This was a qualitative and empirical study using an interpretive constructivist design.

Social care interface in early-stage dementia: practitioners' perspectives on the links between formal and informal networks.

Objective: Although issues of complementarity and coordination between health care institutions have recently generated great interest, few scholars have studied the thorny interface between formal and informal service networks. This exploratory study investigates the interface between health care practitioners and caregivers of people with Alzheimer's disease living in the community.

Method: Using Pescosolido's multilevel network model and Martuccelli's sociology of the individual, the authors interviewed 20 practitioners drawn from seven urban groups and analyzed contacts between practitioners and caregivers at the beginning of the care trajectory.