The Care 2 Work project in

Italy Licia Boccaletti – ANS

2014-2-UK01-KA205-011967

Contents of the presentation

1. Young carers in Italy (overview)

2. Outcomes of the research activity of Care2Work (desk / field)

3. Outcomes of the piloting of Care2Work (face-to-face and online)

4. Conclusions and reccomendations

1. Young carers in Italy (overview)

Statistics

169.000 young persons between

15 and 24 years old (equal to the

2,8% of the Italian population in

this age-range) take care of adults

or older persons with disability

(Istat, 2010)

caring responsibilities are the first

reason for Italian Neets aged 15-

29. (Italia Lavoro, 2014)

Legal awareness on

(young) carers in

Italy

Only in recent years the term «carer» or

«informal carer» has started being part

of the political debate in Italy, but still

little awareness and attention from

policy makers and practitioners to the

needs of (young) carers.

Emilia Romagna Region in 2014 has

passed the first Italian law on informal

carers (R.L. 28 march 2014, n.2)

Existing policies do not distinguish

between younger and older carers and

normally do not refer to people under

18

Existing practices

None explicitely dedicated to

YCs (except ANS’ & Versari

Macrelli School)

ALAteen groups promoted by

Anonymous Alchoolics

Local programmes for

Siblings

Online supports for children

of people with mental

illnesses

2. Outcomes of the research activity

of Care2Work in Italy

Italian studies

Very few

Mostly focusing on

Psychological impacts

Impacts on education and

school proficiency

impacts on family relationship

/ adultized children (role

reversal)

Psychological

impacts

▪taking care of a sibling with disability

doesn’t seem to provoke any major

psychic impact (Martinelli, Majorano, &

Corsano, 2008)

▪the opposite happens in case of parents

with addiction to alcohol or drugs. In

these cases the risk of developing a

psychiatric disease increases

significantly for young carers (Cosci,

Lazzarini, Londi, Patussi, & Sirigatti,

2015, p. 21) and (Gorrini & Brera, 2004).

Education and

family relationships

▪Authors agree on the fact that there might be

a risk of negative consequences for young

carers on education and proficiency.

▪When consequences on family relationships

are examined, different kind of impacts are

detected:

▸ adultized behaviors of young carers

▸‘single child’ reaction, with sibling of people

with disability detaching themselves from the

household and shifting their focus on external

relations

Help needed (Caldin

& Cinotti – 2014 on 76

YCs)

Help in managing emotions (anger, guilt,

loneliness…)

Help in managing relationships with

siblings and other people (friends, partner,

others)

Support to find a balance between

individual and family life

Information concerning relative’s sickness/

disease

External professionals with whom they can

talk

BME young carers

EDUCATION

In general, participants do not report

major negative impacts on

school/educational attainments.

Nevertheless:

«For me time is always tight to do my

homework»

«Peace and motivation to do

homework are always missing as my

house isn’t a comfortable place to

stay as it used to be»

«Sometimes I get angry with my mom

because when I do my homework my

brother distracts me and he is always

in the need for attention»

BME young carers

EMPLOYMENT

Mixed feelings:

«As I usually take care of somebody, I

wouldn’t do it as a job»

«I like the health sector: when I heard

about a disease, I immediately look on

the internet for an explanation»

Skills:

«You are more responsible, you learn to

be responsible for somebody»

«a deeper maturity than my peers and

the capacity of adaptability, not giving up

while facing difficulties and problem

solving without giving the responsibility

to others»

BME young carers

FUTURE

Hopelessness and emptiness:

«Concerning the future, I have no idea… at

present I feel like empty… I take care of the

house with mom, that’s all.»

«I don’t know, my dreams have changed, I’m

more stick to reality than to dreams»

Dreams and goals:

«I’d like to go away, for all of us. Spend time

with my brother, help him travelling, if I had

more money, let him see the world.»

«I’d like to continue consolidating my

experience in a professional way and

contributing to create a better future for

caregivers and families like mine.»

3. Outcomes of the piloting of

Care2Work training

Professionals

21 youth workers

Never heard about Ycs

according to participants one of

the key learning outcome was

“to be able to enhance what

these young persons do”,

meaning that they have

recognized them not only as in

need of support but also as

skills-holder.

Youth Conflict – Stress – Anger management

Ycs were very familiar with the concept

of stress: they were able to describe it

precisely the symptoms and the

feelings related to stress and the

situations reported were clearly linked

with care.

Stress was spontaneously linked with

anger and participants requested

support with anger management

strategies.

Online training 63 professionals / others

24 young carers

General appreciation for the training

courses

Excellent opportunity to disseminate

information and raise awareness at a

low cost and overcoming geographical

barriers - good understanding of main

problems / barriers

Perceived aas very useful by YCs

4. Conclusions and

reccommendations

National level

Awareness rising and training of

professionals / youth workers

Exchange and share with other

EU countries

Think about fast-track measures

for YCs in our law for the

recognition of informally

acquired skills

Grazie – Thank you!

Licia Boccaletti – Anziani e non solo soc.

coop.

progetti@anzianienonsolo.it

www.anzianienonsolo.it