Modernization and future care preferences: a cross‐sectional survey of Arab Israeli caregivers

Abstract

Modernization has an impact on future care preferences in traditional cultures. In order to maintain informal family care, community nurses should examine ways to lessen the burden of care among family caregivers. They should also develop culturally sensitive services that will meet the evolving expectations and preferences that are held by the next generations of family caregivers.

Intergenerational Relations: The Views of Older Jews and Arabs

“…Perhaps they also face the negative effect of filial piety on the processes of modernization and the rise of individualism, as described by Khalaila and Litwin (2011).…”

“…Research about the implications of modernization and the rise of individualism in the Arab society in Israel shows that Arab society is in transition from a collectivistic to an individualistic orientation (Azaiza, 2008;Gliksman & Litwin, 2011;Lowenstein & Katz, 2000). These changes have implications for family cohesion as well as for the role of the family in caring for elders (Katz, 2009a;Khalaila & Litwin, 2011). Silverstein and colleagues (2003) argue that the weakening of filial obligations may be offset by some of the benefits that economic growth brings in the form of care services for the elderly.…”

“…In the quantitative part of the study, it was clearly shown that most of them preferred to remain in their homes if they reached a state of frailty, even with around-the-clock help from a care worker. Khalaila and Litwin (2011) argued that, although an informal support system is still the main support for older Arabs, the patterns of family support and ties will weaken in the wake of modernization processes and of global influences on Israeli society. Therefore, continuing to live in their homes with formal help and some family involvement can be a compromise which might solve the ambivalence, helping them retain the respect they craved.…”

“…Despite social transitions from traditional to modern and from collectivistic to individualistic orientation (Azaiza, 2008;Azaiza, Lowenstein, & Brodsky, 1999;Gliksman & Litwin, 2011;Litwin, 2006;Lowenstein & Katz, 2000), older Arabs are more likely than older Jews to live in homes adjacent to their adult children or close by, in tightly knit, family-oriented communities (Khalaila & Litwin, 2011). Sixty-eight percent of older Arabs live with their family (compared with 18% of older Jews), mostly with their children (Brodsky, Shnoor, & Be'er, 2009).…”

Cross-cultural ageism: ageism and attitudes toward aging among Jews and Arabs in Israel

“…First of all, in line with the first hypothesis, Arabs rated their culture as more tolerant toward older adults in comparison to Jews' assessment of their own culture, and reported spending more time with their elders. The cultural importance of older adults for the Arab cohort seems to transcend beyond Westernization processes which affect the Arab society in Israel (Khalaila and Litwin, 2011), and we can infer that time-honored views of older adults prevail over more modern individualistic views, which rate individuals based on their relative input to society.…”