Il caregiver come cure-giver: nuove soggettività di cura nella cronicità delle demenze

Population ageing and the rise of dementia are shifting Italy’s long-term-care landscape from acute medicine to continuous assistance. Through 34 in-depth interviews (21 family caregiv-ers, 13 health-care professionals) conducted in Bologna, this qualitative study examines how relatives negotiate care pathways for persons with Alzheimer’s disease. Content analysis shows that caregivers perform body work, emotional labour, bureaucratic articulation and medication management, integrating domestic life with clinical requirements. These hybrid practices blur the canonical care/cure divide and generate a new subjectivity – the “cure-giver” – whose lay expertise enables continuity of treatment yet remains socially invisible and gen-dered. The article argues that acknowledging cure-givers as co-producers of health care is vital for equitable, integrated long-term-care policies and for reducing the hidden burdens currently shouldered by families.