Self-Characterizations of Adult Female Informal Caregivers: Gender Identity and the Bearing of Burden

Abstract

Gender identity is a powerful aspect of self that shapes values, attitudes, and conduct. Family caregivers, particularly women, tend to forgo institutionalization of care recipients even when care demands are overwhelming. The reluctance of women to relinquish care raises questions about the relationship between gender identity and the bearing of burden. To illuminate the relationship between gender and burden, 36 adult women caring for highly dependent adults were asked to describe the nature of "self"; that is, how they characterized themselves as a person. Results were tabulated and critically examined in relation to stereotypical gender traits, as well as social and political processes that create gender dichotomies. Overall, self-characterizations indicated caregivers had internalized stereotypical female gender traits that support and facilitate the enduring of burden.

‘Because it’s the wife who has to look after the man’: A descriptive qualitative study of older women and the intersection of gender and the provision of family caregiving at the end of life

“…35 Overall, it is imperative that the drive to improve end-of-life care, which is often operationalised as helping people spend their final days at home, should not come at the (often hidden) cost of older women’s physical, emotional and mental health. 12,20,36,37…”

“…For Western women, such norms include acting compassionately and sympathetically, being sensitive to others’ needs and willing to put others before self. 20,21 Gender norms prime women to be caregivers, yet it is this gendered nature of caregiving which is not acknowledged in the palliative care literature. 15…”

Reactions of staff members and lay people to family presence during resuscitation: the effect of visible bleeding, resuscitation outcome and gender

“…The explanation is probably that women are the ones who usually accompany patients and who fill the role of domestic healthcare agent. It is usually mothers, wives and daughters who are the family caregivers (Kramer 2005, Berg & Woods 2009). This being so, women would probably also want to be with a relative during resuscitation, and this would explain why their response to family presence during resuscitation is less negative than men's.…”

“…However, when the resuscitation succeeded, bleeding was no longer significant for lay women. This gender difference, too, might derive from women's role as caregivers as explained above (Kramer 2005). A lay woman's wish to support her relative during resuscitation might remain strong, no matter if bleeding was involved or not.…”

How does a woman with Alzheimer’s disease make sense of becoming cared for?

“…Current UK statistics report that two thirds of people with dementia live in the community and two thirds of people diagnosed are women, with the most prevalent diagnosis being AD (Alzheimer's Society, 2012). It is predominantly women across the western world that are viewed as the caregivers in a family and with recognised gender traits such as understanding, caring and nurturing, women identify with this role (Kramer, 2005). This indicates that women with AD are a large group of people who could benefit from further study exploring the meaning they give to the transition from caregiver to becoming cared for.…”