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Guardians of health: the dimensions of elder caregiving among women in a Mexico City neighborhood
- Authors:
- MENDEZ-LUCK Carolyn, KENNEDY David P., WALLACE Steven P.
- Journal article citation:
- Social Science and Medicine, 68(2), January 2009, pp.228-234.
- Publisher:
- Elsevier
Little is known about the family care of older adults in Mexico and the role of women in this process. To begin to fill this knowledge gap, this paper describes how a small sample of low-income women in one Mexico City neighbourhood conceptualized the caregiver role and identified the forms of assistance they gave to their older relatives on a daily basis. A grounded theory approach was used to collect and analyze the data. Forty-one semi-structured qualitative interviews were conducted with female caregivers. The age of participants was between 19 and 83 years, and care recipients between 56 and 92 years. The relationship of caregiver to care recipient was wife, daughter, daughter-in-law, granddaughter, sibling, and other relative. The mean length of time providing care was 5 years. Most participants were not employed outside the home, and the median monthly household income was 2000 pesos. We found that caregiving was a life-changing event, with 27 of 41 participants viewing themselves as guardians. Caregivers' emphasis was on care recipients' emotional needs in order to provide “the most precious gift” of “time and attention.” Two forms of assistance were ‘keeping company’ and ‘watching out’ as safeguards against poor health or further decline in health. These findings increase the cultural understanding of caregiving in Mexico. Further research is needed to test the caregiving concepts identified in this study.
Ageing societies: challenges and opportunities: evidence from the BUPA health pulse 2010 international healthcare survey
- Authors:
- FERNANDEZ Jose-Luis, FORDER Julien
- Publisher:
- Bupa
- Publication year:
- 2010
- Pagination:
- 27p., bibliog.
- Place of publication:
- London
This report presents the findings of the Bupa Health Pulse 2010 international healthcare survey around the theme of 'ageing societies'. It summarises some of the most important evidence about the ageing process across the world, and discusses some of the key policy challenges that ageing presents, looking particularly at the capacity for societies to provide high quality support for their older people in the future. The study surveyed 12,262 people across 12 countries (Australia, Brazil, China, France, Germany, India, Italy, Mexico, Russia, Spain, UK, USA), but the patterns described are common to a much larger number of countries. The report is structured around 3 parts. The first examines the question of the ageing process in different societies and what it means in terms of: increases in the older population; changes in the balance between young and old; and increases in the number of people with health problems and in the level of demand for care services. The second part examines the support system required to look after older people in need of care including: the sharing of caring and funding responsibilities between the state and private individuals; the need to ensure that resources are in place to look after the growing number of older people; and the levels of support provided to older people in need. The last section summarises the key policy implications.