ArticleBMC health services research2026
Informal caregivers' perspectives on caring for elderly people in Romania: a qualitative study.
Article in BMC health services research, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundInformal caregiving is a critical component of elderly care, particularly in countries like Romania where formal long-term care (LTC) services are underdeveloped or inaccessible to many. Family caregivers often provide the majority of daily care, yet little is known about how they perceive this role - whether it is taken on voluntarily, out of love, as an unavoidable necessity, a combination of the abovementioned, or out of other reasons. This study explores Romanian caregivers’ perspectives on the motivations behind caregiving, their lived experiences, and their preferences and expectations regarding future care arrangements, especially in the context of a healthcare system that does not formally recognise or support their contributions.
methodsA qualitative study was conducted using in-depth semi-structured interviews with 14 informal caregivers, primarily family members caring for elderly relatives. Participants were purposively recruited to reflect a diversity of caregiving contexts (e.g. spouses, adult children, grandchildren). The interviews explored motivations, challenges, rewards, and perceptions of formal support systems and LTC alternatives. Transcripts were analysed in the original Romanian language using inductive thematic analysis, with emergent themes later translated into English for reporting.
resultsCaregivers described a continuum between obligation and choice. Many viewed caregiving as a moral responsibility driven by family values or reciprocity, while others emphasized their personal willingness and affection, reporting they cared “with no feeling of obligation, only love.” Participants often reported burdens including emotional and physical exhaustion, financial strain, social isolation, and limited access to formal support. Despite these challenges, caregivers also expressed emotional rewards such as fulfillment, pride, and strengthened family bonds. Most preferred home-based care over institutional care, citing cultural norms, cost, and mistrust of facilities. At the same time, caregivers voiced strong needs for more structured support: accessible information, formal training, and inclusion by healthcare professionals.
conclusionsInformal caregivers in Romania play an indispensable role in supporting the elderly, often with minimal formal assistance. Their work is driven by both love and obligation and marked by both burdens and rewards. Findings point to the urgent need for policy reforms that recognise informal caregivers and provide structured support - through financial, educational, and psychosocial interventions -within a more integrated and culturally responsive LTC system.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.