The heart of family care is where care is being given: in the family. Increasingly, family members are made responsible for caregiving. This increased care responsibility is a consequence of the changing society. Welfare states are changing into management states. This civil responsibility has important consequences for practice, where patients and family caregivers meet. Often, family caregivers who are providing care are doing fine, they experience joy. But many family caregivers are overburdened. Family care and care responsibility are the main topics of this study.
Deirdre Beneken genaamd Kolmer was born in Tilburg on the 25th of January 1975. She studied pedagogical and educational sciences at Radboud University Nijmegen. In 2002 she started her PhD research at Tilburg University. Besides her research she works as a family therapist and as a consultant in the field of health care. In former years she has been working as a social educational care worker in psychiatric centers in the Netherlands and in rehabilitation centers in India. As an educationalist, she is specialized in philosophy of education.