The issue of informal caregiving is one of the more complicated issues in healthcare since it suggests addressing the ethical implication of the specified change. Currently, informal caregivers for the elderly, who are typically represented by the latter’s family members, experience quite a number of difficulties associated with access to information and care tools (Plöthner et al., 2019). Therefore, creating additional options for them to provide better care for the elderly is important. At the same time, the possibility of informal caregivers misusing the provided options, especially those that include tax reduction options and subsidies, is relatively high (Plöthner et al., 2019). Therefore, the specified support should be considered as an option only once effective control tools for observing caregivers’ actions are established.
The introduction of tax reduction options and subsidies is likely to attract not only the people that are willing to support the aging population but also those with fraudulent intentions. In turn, testing the honesty and integrity of informal caregivers will be virtually impossible. Moreover, due to the absence of formal connection to their elderly patients, informal caregivers will be very difficult to track down once a breach of the elderly’s rights is observed. Therefore, tighter control over the activities performed by informal caregivers is required. Unless it is established in the current context of managing aging people’s needs, the proposed financial incentives cannot have an inherent value as an assistance tool.
Although the idea of providing tax reductions and subsidies as the vehicle for supporting individuals offering caregiving services will increase their access to relevant healthcare tools, the lack of control over their actions may entail ethical complications. Thus, unless control options for examining the ethical value of informal caregivers’ actions are deployed, the proposed incentives should not be seen as an option. Instead, the tools that provide fewer opportunities for bypassing the law, such as cheaper medications and access to health management information, should be offered to informal caregivers.
Reference
Plöthner, M., Schmidt, K., De Jong, L., Zeidler, J., & Damm, K. (2019). Needs and preferences of informal caregivers regarding outpatient care for the elderly: A systematic literature review. BMC Geriatrics, 19(1), 82-87.