Caring for older people: relational narratives of attentiveness, commitment and acceptance

Authors:
Mary Breheny Massey University, New Zealand

Search for other papers by Mary Breheny in
Current site
Google Scholar
Close
,
Barbara Horrell Massey University, New Zealand

Search for other papers by Barbara Horrell in
Current site
Google Scholar
Close
, and
Christine Stephens Massey University, New Zealand

Search for other papers by Christine Stephens in
Current site
Google Scholar
Close
Restricted access
Get eTOC alerts
Rights and permissions Cite this article

Informal care evolves from an existing relationship with the care recipient. This study aims to understand the relational nature of such care. Six participants caring for a spouse or parent chose their own methods of data collection, including keeping a journal, telephone interviews or face-to-face interviews. Participants drew on personal narratives to reveal different identities, which included a guardian, a partner, a coper, and a campaigner on behalf of the person receiving care. These findings demonstrate how providing good care is part of each carer’s relational identity. Acknowledging the relational nature of care will enable better support for carers.

  • Barnes, M. (2012) Care in Everyday Life: An Ethic of Care in Practice, Bristol: Policy Press.

  • Barnes, M., Taylor, D. and Ward, L. (2013) Being well enough in old age, Critical Social Policy, 33(3): 47393. doi: 10.1177/0261018312471163

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Breheny, M., Horrell, B. and Stephens, C. (2019) A participatory journal/dialogue approach to narrative research illustrated using a study of informal caregiving, Manuscript submitted for publication.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Burridge, L., Winch, S. and Clavarino, A. (2007) Reluctance to care: a systematic review and development of a conceptual framework, Cancer Nursing, 30: E919. doi: 10.1097/00002820-200701000-00002

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Donchin, A. (1995) Reworking autonomy: toward a feminist perspective, Cambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics, 4(1): 4455. doi: 10.1017/S0963180100005636

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Dudová, R. (2018) Doing gender and age: the case of informal elderly care in the Czech Republic, International Journal of Ageing and Later Life, 12(1): 133.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Galvin, K., Todres, L. and Richardson, M. (2005) The intimate mediator: a carer’s experience of Alzheimer’s, Scandinavian Journal of Caring Sciences, 19: 211. doi: 10.1111/j.1471-6712.2004.00312.x

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Gilligan, C. (1982) In a Different Voice: Psychological Theory and Women’s Development, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

  • Greenwood, N., Pound, C., Brearley, S. and Smith, R. (2019) A qualitative study of older informal carers’ experiences and perceptions of their caring role, Maturitas, 124: 17. doi: 10.1016/j.maturitas.2019.03.006

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Horrell, B., Breheny, M. and Stephens, C. (2014) Capability to care and work: when dual roles intersect, Vulnerable Groups & Inclusion, 5(1): 24357. doi: 10.3402/vgi.v5.24357

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Horrell, B., Stephens, C. and Breheny, M. (2015) Capability to care: supporting the health of informal caregivers for older people, Health Psychology, 34: 33948. doi: 10.1037/hea0000144

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Hughes, N., Locock, L. and Ziebland, S. (2013) Personal identity and the role of ‘carer’ among relatives and friends of people with multiple sclerosis, Social Science and Medicine, 96: 7885. doi: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2013.07.023

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Jacelon, C.S. and Imperio, K. (2005) Participant diaries as a source of data in research with older adults, Qualitative Health Research, 15(7): 9917. doi: 10.1177/1049732305278603

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Jones, K. (2006) Informal care as relationship: the case of the Magnificent Seven, Journal of Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing, 13: 21420. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2850.2006.00943.x

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Kluczyńska, U. (2015) Older husbands as carers: constructions of masculinity in the context of care-giving, Studia Humanistyczne Ag, 14(2): 7393.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Langellier, K. and Peterson, E. (2004) Storytelling in Everyday Life, Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press.

  • Lloyd, L. (2004) Mortality and morality: ageing and the ethics of care, Ageing and Society, 24(2): 23556. doi: 10.1017/S0144686X03001648

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • MacDonald, C. (2002) Nurse autonomy as relational, Nursing Ethics, 9(2): 194201. doi: 10.1191/0969733002ne498oa

  • McAdams, D (2001) The psychology of life stories, Review of General Psychology, 5(2): 10022. doi: 10.1037/1089-2680.5.2.100

  • Meth, P. (2003) Entries and omissions: using solicited diaries in geographical research, Area, 35(2): 195205. doi: 10.1111/1475-4762.00263

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Montgomery, R.J. and Kosloski, K.D. (2013) Pathways to a caregiver identity and implications for support services, in R.C. Talley and R.J. Montgomery (eds) Caregiving Across the Lifespan, New York, NY: Springer, pp 13156.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Morrison, C.A. (2012) Solicited diaries and the everyday geographies of heterosexual love and home: reflections on methodological process and practice, Area, 44(1): 6875. doi: 10.1111/j.1475-4762.2011.01044.x

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Mullin, A. (2011) Gratitude and caring labor, Ethics and Social Welfare, 5(2): 11022. doi: 10.1080/17496535.2011.571061

  • Murray, M. (2000) Levels of narrative analysis in health psychology, Journal of Health Psychology, 5(3): 33747. doi: 10.1177/135910530000500305

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Myers, J. (2010) Moving methods: constructing emotionally poignant geographies of HIV in Auckland, New Zealand, Area, 42: 32838.

  • Nolan, M., Keady, J. and Grant, G. (1996) Understanding Family Care: A Multidimensional Model of Caring and Coping, Buckingham: Open University Press.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Nussbaum, M.C. (2000) Women and Human Development: The Capabilities Approach, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

  • Nussbaum, M.C. (2007) Frontiers of Justice: Disability, Nationality, Species Membership, Cambridge, MA: The Bellknap Press of Harvard University Press.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Payne, S. and Ellis-Hill, C. (2001) Chronic and Terminal Illness: New Perspectives on Being a Carer, New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Philip, G., Rogers, C. and Weller, S. (2012) Understanding care and thinking with care, in C. Rogers and S. Weller (eds) Critical Approaches to Care: Understanding Caring Relations, Identities and Cultures, Abingdon: Routledge, pp 112.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Riessman, C.K. (2008) Narrative Methods for the Human Sciences, Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

  • Rummery, K. and Fine, M. (2012) Care: a critical review of theory, policy and practice, Social Policy & Administration, 46(3): 32143.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Sherwin, S. (ed) (1998) A Relational Approach to Autonomy in Health Care. The Politics of Women’s Health: Exploring Agency and Autonomy, Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press, pp 1947.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Shim, B., Barroso, J. and Davis, L.L. (2012) A comparative qualitative analysis of stories of spousal caregivers of people with dementia: negative, ambivalent, and positive experiences, International Journal of Nursing Studies, 49: 2209. doi: 10.1016/j.ijnurstu.2011.09.003

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Silverman, M. (2015) Observing women caregivers’ everyday experiences: new ways of understanding and intervening, Journal of Gerontological Social Work, 58(2): 20622. doi: 10.1080/01634372.2014.939384

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
  • Zarit, S.H. (2018) Past is prologue: how to advance caregiver interventions, Aging & Mental Health, 22(6): 71722.

Mary Breheny Massey University, New Zealand

Search for other papers by Mary Breheny in
Current site
Google Scholar
Close
,
Barbara Horrell Massey University, New Zealand

Search for other papers by Barbara Horrell in
Current site
Google Scholar
Close
, and
Christine Stephens Massey University, New Zealand

Search for other papers by Christine Stephens in
Current site
Google Scholar
Close

Content Metrics

May 2022 onwards Past Year Past 30 Days
Abstract Views 1127 402 26
Full Text Views 385 10 0
PDF Downloads 95 12 0

Altmetrics

Dimensions