Abstract
Long-term care in the unique US welfare state is largely a private responsibility, and current long-term care policy rests on the assumption that care--of the elderly, in our example--will be provided by women. Because alternatives to personal care of dependent kin are available based on ability to pay, lower-income women bear a disproportionate burden. A study was undertaken to examine the experience of caregiving in a convenience sample of 10 low-income women providing informal care to a frail elder. Half the study sample were women of color. Responses to the core question, "What is taking care of ... like for you?" were analyzed using phenomenologic analysis techniques. A pattern of four interrelated key themes, which describe a transitional process beginning with inevitability of the caregiving role and ending with acquiescence to it, were identified. These data are placed in the political context that surrounds caregiving; such analyses are important both to generate theory and to identify possible points of intervention.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 44-58 |
| Number of pages | 15 |
| Journal | Holistic Nursing Practice |
| Volume | 8 |
| Issue number | 4 |
| State | Published - Jul 1994 |
| Externally published | Yes |
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ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Medicine(all)
Cite this
Caregiving women and the US welfare state : the case of elder kin care by low-income women. / Ward, Deborah; Carney, P. A.
In: Holistic Nursing Practice, Vol. 8, No. 4, 07.1994, p. 44-58.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Caregiving women and the US welfare state
T2 - the case of elder kin care by low-income women.
AU - Ward, Deborah
AU - Carney, P. A.
PY - 1994/7
Y1 - 1994/7
N2 - Long-term care in the unique US welfare state is largely a private responsibility, and current long-term care policy rests on the assumption that care--of the elderly, in our example--will be provided by women. Because alternatives to personal care of dependent kin are available based on ability to pay, lower-income women bear a disproportionate burden. A study was undertaken to examine the experience of caregiving in a convenience sample of 10 low-income women providing informal care to a frail elder. Half the study sample were women of color. Responses to the core question, "What is taking care of ... like for you?" were analyzed using phenomenologic analysis techniques. A pattern of four interrelated key themes, which describe a transitional process beginning with inevitability of the caregiving role and ending with acquiescence to it, were identified. These data are placed in the political context that surrounds caregiving; such analyses are important both to generate theory and to identify possible points of intervention.
AB - Long-term care in the unique US welfare state is largely a private responsibility, and current long-term care policy rests on the assumption that care--of the elderly, in our example--will be provided by women. Because alternatives to personal care of dependent kin are available based on ability to pay, lower-income women bear a disproportionate burden. A study was undertaken to examine the experience of caregiving in a convenience sample of 10 low-income women providing informal care to a frail elder. Half the study sample were women of color. Responses to the core question, "What is taking care of ... like for you?" were analyzed using phenomenologic analysis techniques. A pattern of four interrelated key themes, which describe a transitional process beginning with inevitability of the caregiving role and ending with acquiescence to it, were identified. These data are placed in the political context that surrounds caregiving; such analyses are important both to generate theory and to identify possible points of intervention.
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M3 - Article
C2 - 8027196
AN - SCOPUS:0028469908
VL - 8
SP - 44
EP - 58
JO - Holistic Nursing Practice
JF - Holistic Nursing Practice
SN - 0887-9311
IS - 4
ER -