Health and Social Care Professionals’ Insights on Male Care Partners of People Living with Dementia: From Care-Managers to Care-Providers

Little is known about how health and social care professionals assess and respond to the caregiving needs of men who care for a family member living with dementia. This study aimed to address this research gap using a qualitative research methodology over two phases. Phase one comprised an online survey with 53 health and social care professionals. Open-ended survey responses were analysed via inductive content analysis and close-ended responses were analysed using descriptive statistics. Phase two comprised semi-structured interviews with five participants from phase one and interviews were analysed using thematic analysis. Health and social care professionals suggested that a spectrum perspective (ranging on a continuum from 'care-manager' to 'care-provider') could illustrate how people approach dementia caregiving. They suggested that socially constructed gender norms and the care partner's kinship to their care recipient are key factors that influence where care partners stand along that continuum. For example, participants felt that men often abide by masculinity norms and tend to adopt a care-manager approach, with sons typically standing further down the care-manager end of the spectrum compared to husbands. Most participants acknowledged having adjusted their own clinical practice to match the care-manager approach used by male care partners. Participants recommended that health and social care professionals could optimise how they assess the needs of male care partners by adopting a task-focused rapport building approach; providing solution-focused advice; and proactively linking male care partners to formal and informal supports. These recommendations could inform future service developments to improve supports provided to male dementia care partners.