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They are usually paid professionals that take care of an older adult through in-home services or at a healthcare facility who are likely to have professional experience and training in caring for older adults (Li & Song, 2019).

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Li, J., Song, Y. (2019). Formal and Informal Care. In: Gu, D., Dupre, M. (eds) Encyclopedia of Gerontology and Population Aging. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-69892-2_847-1

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Kunkle R, Chaperon C, Berger AM. (2020). Formal Caregiver Burden in Nursing Homes: An Integrative Review. Western Journal of Nursing Research. 43(9):877-893. doi: 10.1177/0193945920979691

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1) home-based care: where a nurse or other provider comes into the home

most older adults prefer to stay at home, they feel more connected to life and are more likely to "age in place."

typically assistance in personal care, such as wound care, bathing, homemaking, and dressing (Li & Song, 2019).

2) community-based care: older adult daycare centers

the older adult does not stay there overnight

3) residential care: nursing home or similar facility

this is the most dominant form of formal care, though informal, home-based care is still the most common form of caregiving for older adults

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Formal caregiving is not universally provided across the world

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Formal caregiving is not universally provided across the world

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~5.6% of older adults worldwide have the right to long-term formal care (World Bank, 2015, as cited in Li & Song, 2019).

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Social workers, registered nurses, occupational therapists, medical doctors, physiotherapists, and other licensed professionals, depending on the needs of the care-recipient

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Social workers, registered nurses, occupational therapists, medical doctors, physiotherapists, and other licensed professionals, depending on the needs of the care-recipient

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Formal care can also be administered by unlicensed, but still trained individuals working staff positions at nursing homes, community-based facilities, assisted living facilities, residential institutions, clinics, etc (Li & Song, 2019).

standards for training for licensed and unlicensed formal caregivers varies depending on location

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As residential facilities, like nursing homes, were identified as the most predominant type of formal care, I draw these statistics from a review on formal care in nursing homes. The article conducts analyses on a group of > 4,000 formal caregivers working at > 200 different nursing homes across the United States (Kunkle, Chaperon & Berger, 2020). Of the 19 studies included in the review, 11 provided demographic characteristics, to which these statistics are drawn from below.

formal caregivers are predominantly (~90%) identify as women

the majority identified as White or Black Americans

their ages ranged from 16-66

As expressed above, this is a very robust integrative review, however they did cut off their article search to April 2020, so there certainly has been room for changes to these demographics over the past four years.

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They have training that informal caregivers likely do not

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They have training that informal caregivers likely do not

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If the older recipient of care has more complex needs, rapidly-progressing or fluctuating needs, it may be even more stressful for an untrained, informal caregiver. Formal caregivers, especially well-certified and experienced ones, will have the knowledge and training to provide the best quality of care for loved ones.

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Informal caregivers are growing in numbers

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Informal caregivers are growing in numbers

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Good and invested informal caregivers can help ease some of the physical demands of formal caregiving.

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This, of course, depends on the facility as well, but, generally, formal caregivers have more opportunity for proper self-care and needed breaks, as they are more likely than informal caregivers to not have other jobs on top of caregiving. They have the opportunity to disengage and take their mind off of caregiving and allow their emotions and compassion to restore (Alves et al., 2019).

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Informal caregivers are also less likely to have a personal relation to the recipient of care, which eases the burden of relationship identity complexities and the hardship of seeing loved ones in difficult positions.

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Like unpaid caregivers, formal caregivers have the potential to feel a great deal of fulfillment from their job, depending on their personal values and workplace circumstances.

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Alves, L. C. S., Monteiro, D. Q., Bento, S. R., Hayashi, V. D., Pelegrini, L. N. C., & Vale, F. A. C. (2019). Burnout syndrome in informal caregivers of older adults with dementia: A systematic review. Dementia & neuropsychologia, 13(4), 415–421. https://doi.org/10.1590/1980-57642018dn13-040008

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Everyone can experience burnout in their lives and in their occupation, but due to the stressful and often burdensome nature of caregiving, formal caregivers are likely to experience burnout. The possibility raises with staffing issues that many facilities face, unregulated training, and lack of support from both the facility and others in the caregivers life (Alves, 2019).

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The healthcare field is, unfortunately, known for inducing a poor quality of life on their staff, which in turn, impacts the quality of care given to patients. You cannot provide care to others if you cannot care for yourself. Similarly, it is very difficult to provide each recipient of care with joy and humanity when an individual has trouble feeling those same emotions for themselves (Schempp, n.d.).

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Caregivers, paid and unpaid, go through a great deal and variation of stress in their daily responsibilities. If they aren't afforded ample time off, or if they don't have solid self-care practices of their own, they are more likely to be overwhelmed by stress (Alves et al., 2019).

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Schempp, Donna (n.d.).  The emotional side of caregiving. Family Caregiver Alliance.  Retrieved April 29, 2022, from https://www.caregiver.org/resource/emotional-side-caregiving/?via=caregiver-resources,all-resources