Worldwide nations have concerns centered on what has come to be called the "elder care crisis". More specifically, the secular demographic trend and its resulting issues of who will provide care, and how this care will be provided are at the forefront of health care policy and social service planning and debate. Consequently there has been an increasing emphasis on informal elder care, that is, care that is provided by family members to elders. The purpose of this community-based ethnographic field research was to explore and describe the expectations elders and community members have for elder care on the island of St. Lucia and the networks for care of community-dwelling frail elders. Using participant observation, interviews, focus groups, ongoing interviews and network analysis of 15 village families, as well as a survey of 173 village children, exploration and description of expectations and networks for care are reported. In general, older persons, family members, community members, and other island leaders described a social expectation that the elder's children provide their care. While the expectation is pervasive, an exploration of elder status and care systems exposed other variables such as health status, community relations, presence of family members, and resources that impacted on elders' care. Recommendations for nursing research are provided.
Learning Objectives: 1) To explore and describe the expectations that the elderly and their family members have for elder care on the island of St. Lucia, and 2) To describe social expectations of elder family member's children to provide their care
Keywords: Elderly, Rural Populations
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: None
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.