Elderly Husbands Caring at Home for Wives Diagnosed With Alzheimer's Disease: Are Male Caregivers Really Different?

Cahill, Suzanne

doi:10.1002/j.1839-4655.2000.tb01303.x

Cited by 31 publications

(47 citation statements)

References 24 publications

(17 reference statements)

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“…Revealing this has important implications for theory and knowledge development about masculinity and caregiving. However, it also goes beyond the more traditional way of describing men's motives for undertaking caregiving , or gender‐specific difficulties relating to caregiving such as men's experiencing less emotional distress, physical and psychological effects than their female counterparts . It is nonetheless important to bear in mind that the consequences of loss of male identity, relationships, personal time and a ‘normal’ everyday life, while still fully appreciating the responsibility of care like the men in this study must not be seen as a natural pathway for all men.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Development of older men's caregiving roles for wives with dementia

Hellström

Håkanson

Eriksson

et al. 2017

Scandinavian Caring Sciences

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Development of older men's caregiving roles for wives with dementia. Scandinavian Journal of Caring Sciences, 31(4): 957-964https://doi.org/10.1111/scs.12419Access to the published version may require subscription. N.B. When citing this work, cite the original published paper. Permanent link to this version:http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:rkh:diva-2334 This secondary analysis of qualitative interviews describes how older Swedish men approach the caregiver role for a wife with dementia, over time. An increasing number of male caregivers will become primary caregivers for partners living with dementia at home, and they will likely be caregivers for an extended period of time. It has been stated that caregiving experiences influence how older men think of themselves. The theoretical starting point is a constructivist position, offering an understanding of older caregiving men's constructions and reconstructions of themselves and their caregiver roles. Seven men, who were cohabiting with their wives, were interviewed on up to five occasions at home during a 5-to 6-year period.The findings comprise three themes; me and it, me despite it, it is me, depict how these men gradually take on and normalise the caregiving tasks, and how they develop and internalise a language based on their caring activities. The results provide understanding about the relationship between men as caregivers and how this influences them as individuals. By careful attention to each caregiving man's individual needs rather than making gendered assumptions about men and caring, the aim of the caregiver support for men might best target men's own meaning to the caring in their the everyday practices.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Development of older men's caregiving roles for wives with dementia

Hellström

Håkanson

Eriksson

et al. 2017

Scandinavian Caring Sciences

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…These results concur with reports that suggest that male carers in particular prefer to deal with the functional and practical aspects of care rather than the emotional aspects. 20 Higher levels of concrete needs have been associated with higher levels of carer burden. 21 Carers, who represent the front line of patient care in regional areas, were very concerned about the patients' condition yet felt ill-equipped to deal with problems that could arise and reported feeling isolated from professional assistance.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Needs of Cancer Patients and Their Families From Rural and Remote Areas of Queensland

Clavarino

Lowe

Carmont

et al. 2002

Australian J Rural Health

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This study examines the impact of travelling for treatment on cancer patients and their families. Twenty-eight consecutive cancer patients, who were receiving radiation therapy treatment and 19 family carers, completed a structured needs assessment questionnaire and an in-depth interview.Both patients and carers reported moderate to high levels of unmet psychological need. Carers were found to have higher levels of anxiety than patients, although both groups had higher anxiety levels than the general population. Taking more responsibility for household tasks and organising new living arrangements for the family were the most frequently identified demands of a dual burden of caring. Nearly 40% of carers reported some disruption to their schedule and half reported experiencing financial difficulties. The qualitative interviews highlight the disruption that parents and children experience under the present system, particularly in relation to the demands of family life and the need to maintain some level of continuity and security for children.KEY WORDS: burden of care, family caregiving, family disruption, psychological distress, rural and remote.

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“…It is also worth noting, however, that, even if, as Russell (2001) states, men are often described as less capable caregivers, there is another picture of caregiving men that this literature presents, especially research that addresses the issue of caregiving by focusing on husbands as caregivers. This research has all brought to the fore the unique ways in which caregiving men approach care (see, for example, the work of Cahill 2000;Kramer 2000;Harris 1993 andMotenko 1988).…”

Section: Caregiving Men In Previous Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

Men do care! : A gender-aware and masculinity-informed contribution to caregiving scholarship

Wallroth

2016

Linköping Studies in Arts and Sciences

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In caregiving literature, it is often the female gender that has been the focus of attention, and in particular women's unpaid labor. Studies also tend to make comparisons between men's and women's caregiving, using men's caregiving experiences to show not only that women face greater burdens, but also that men's needs can be disregarded. This means that while gender analyses are not uncommon in the caregiving literature, gender tends to be equated with womanhood. The research problem that this dissertation addresses is therefore the gender bias that characterizes caregiving scholarship at present and the fact that this bias is impeding us from moving the debates on care and caregiving forward. The aim of the dissertation is twofold. Firstly, it attempts to contribute to the rectification of the gender bias in question by focusing on men's caregiving and answering the following research questions: What motivates men to provide care for their elderly parents? How do adult sons experience caregiving? What do adult sons think that care and caregiving are, i.e. what are their perspectives on care? Secondly, this dissertation also aims to explore whether a gender-aware and masculinity-informed perspective can be used to enhance our understanding of caregiving. Thus, through a phenomenological analysis of interviews with 19 caregiving adult sons and sons-in-law, this dissertation discusses how motives, experiences and perspectives, which have so far been interpreted as unique to women, are also matters that men talk about and consider important in caregiving. The dissertation argues therefore that much could be gained if we were to rectify the gender bias that characterizes the literature on family caregiving and explore caregiving men in the genderaware and masculinity-informed way that is lacking in this literature at present. Inspired by the debate within studies of masculinity, the dissertation argues that within the debate on care there is a hegemony of care which has so far tended to exclude men's perspectives on caregiving because literature on family caregiving has regarded women as the ideal caregivers. This dissertation shows that a gender-aware and masculinity-informed perspective on care can increase our understanding of family caregiving and contribute to the rectification of the gender bias that care research suffers from. Against this backdrop, it is proposed that caregiving men should not solely be regarded as empirically interesting. This is because they are an unexploited and theoretically profuse source of information about caregiving.

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Elderly Husbands Caring at Home for Wives Diagnosed With Alzheimer's Disease: Are Male Caregivers Really Different?

Cited by 31 publications

References 24 publications

Development of older men's caregiving roles for wives with dementia

Development of older men's caregiving roles for wives with dementia

The Needs of Cancer Patients and Their Families From Rural and Remote Areas of Queensland

Men do care! : A gender-aware and masculinity-informed contribution to caregiving scholarship

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