Family-based Care

Family-based care is the model in which a relative — most often a parent, spouse, adult child, or sibling — is the primary caregiver for a disabled, chronically ill, or ageing family member, typically in the home rather than in an institutional setting. In the context of cognitive and intellectual disability, family-based care has become the default since the deinstitutionalisation movement of the late 20th century, and it typically intensifies at the transition out of the school system when young adults with cognitive disabilities lose access to full-time school-provided supports. The model places substantial coordination, scheduling, advocacy, and emotional labour on family caregivers, and shapes the design requirements for assistive technology, remote-communication tools, and care-coordination systems aimed at this population.