Background Longer lives increase the possibility of caring duties, which means that older adults looking after their ageing parents—as well as their own partners—is becoming an increasingly common scenario in developed countries. Objective To explore the caregiving demands of very old caregiving dyads and the experience of maintaining the identity of a child at such an advanced age. Design Qualitative study. Subjects 15 participants (four males), all aged 70 or over and caring for their mothers, aged between 95 and 105 years old. Methods Semi-structured interviews analysed thematically. Results Caregivers are willing to care for their mothers ‘until death tears them apart’, despite the double strains they face, that is more self-limitations and added care receiver need. On a positive side, they feel ‘happy, thankful and proud’ for still having their mothers alive. They also describe that maintaining the identity of a child at such an advanced age was somewhat unthought of and unexpected but an important source of pride. Conclusions These findings suggest that these oldest-old caregiving dyads are characterised by a relationship shaped by strong feelings of extended filial love, constituting a family feature that needs further understanding. Findings also underscore the challenges these carers face in dealing with several agents (secondary caregivers) and entities in the care provision.
According to the National Alliance for Caregiving (2015), the typical definition of an older adult caregiver points to a 79-year-old white female who cares for a close relative due to a long-term physical condition; in such cases the care-recipient is often a spouse, an adult child or a sibling, but not a parent. This cross-sectional qualitative study explores the experience of a group of fifteen children in their 70s who are main care-providers of their parents (mean age 98; range 95-105); it focuses on their overall caregiving experience with a particular emphasis on how they feel being still a child at such an advanced age. In-depth interviews were conducted and analyzed for recurrent themes using thematic analysis. Main findings revealed that although being in an overall positive experience, often socially exalted (proudness of having a parent alive/being in an unique situation), none had expected to be holding the identity of a child at their current age. These children’s views of their ageing self were strongly embedded in their caregiving role, and some reported losing awareness of their own age and a mixture of feelings of being simultaneously a child, a parent and a grandparent. Role captivity (late life prison) and disregarding self-care shaped their current situation in terms of caregiving burden and altered life plans as older adults. This study adds to the limited available knowledge on very old caregiving dyads, and raises awareness on how personal and family identity may be shaped in older age by unforeseen family dynamics.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.