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.


METHODS
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.


RESULTS
The quality of the practitioner-caregiver interface was determined by the players' profiles, internal structures, and external links. Heterogeneous professional groups and the establishment of contacts in the early stages of dementia seemed beneficial.


CONCLUSIONS
The problematic interface between formal and informal service networks could be improved by a greater understanding of microsocial- and organizational-level interactions and implementing a social model of care.
Carpentier
Normand
N
Institut universitaire de gériatrie de Montréal, 4565, chemin Queen-Mary, Montréal, QC H3W 1W5, Canada. normand.carpentier@umontreal.ca
Pomey
Marie-Pascal
MP
Contreras
Ricardo
R
Olazabal
Ignace
I
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D017028:Caregivers; D003153:Community Health Services; D003266:Continuity of Patient Care / Q000458:organization & administration*; D003299:Cooperative Behavior; D003704:Dementia / Q000628:therapy*; D004522:Educational Status; D006299:Health Services for the Aged; D006699:Home Care Services; D006701:Home Nursing; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D015233:Models, Statistical; D012944:Social Support; D012961:Sociology; D014481:United States