Relatives as supporters of elderly peoples' information behaviour

Introduction. The paper presents results from an exploratory study with the overall purpose of gaining knowledge of various aspects related to support at information behaviour that Icelandic elderly people, still living in their homes, receive from their relatives. The paper will focus on the viewpoints of the relatives and how they describe their own situation as informal information supporters of the elderly information needs. Method. A qualitative study was conducted. Open-ended interviews were taken with 14 relatives, nine women and five men, aged 37 to 74. Their backgrounds varied as to education, work experience and residence. Analysis. Analysis of the data was conducted according to grounded theory as described by Strauss and Corbin and the themes that emerged interpreted in terms of the context relating to each participant. Results. The relatives provided divers support. In addition to monitoring the condition and situation of the elderly, it involved considerable information seeking, mediating and interpreting information. As well as information management and making arrangements for everyone involved with the support to be kept informed. Conclusions. Three main topics of information needs were identified: health information health, information about formal support from the state or municipality, and financial information. The relatives further provided information about the elderly housing. The relatives expressed complex feelings about their role as informal information supporters. The findings presented, together with previous findings, suggest that the connection between the elderly experience of dependency for support and the relatives providing the support is complicated and needs further investigation.