The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA

Abstract #65040

Carolyn A. Mendez, PhD, MPH, HSR&D Center for the Study of Healthcare Provider Behavior, Veterans Administration, UCLA Center For Health Policy Research, 16111 Plummer Street (152), Sepulveda, CA 91343, 310-794-0544, camendez@ucla.edu

Formal long-term care services in Mexico are neither widely available nor affordable for many of the country’s moderate and low-income families. As such, informal caregiving, predominantly performed by women, has become an integral component of older Mexicans’ social resources network. This study examines how women in a Mexico City suburb conceptualize caregiving to older relatives, with an emphasis on the roles that cultural and external factors play in caregiving experiences. Data were collected through in-depth interviews of forty-one women using a semi-structured interview guide. Results show that women view the role of caregiver as a guardian of the care recipient’s overall well-being. While women perform tasks traditionally associated with caregiving, their predominant concern is for the emotional welfare of their older loved ones. Women engage in two broad categories of activities, estar al pendiente (“watching out”) and keeping company. “Watching out” refers to the anticipation of need and has underlying elements of vigilance. Keeping company is most commonly defined as being or living together (convivencia) and conversing (platicar). Both categories of activities safeguard care recipients from poor health or from further decline in health by preventing feelings of loneliness or abandonment. The focus on emotional caregiving derives from cultural beliefs about aging; risks for depression and feeling unloved or unwanted increase with age. This study challenges traditional definitions of caregiving that place emphasis on physical rather than emotional dimensions of care. Caregiving is a multidimensional enterprise with strong emotional features that are lacking in formal long-term care settings.

Learning Objectives:

At the conclusion of this presentation, participants will be able to
• identify two broad categories of caregiving; and
• describe cultural factors that contribute to women’s conceptualizations of caregiving as an emotional activity.

Keywords: Caregivers, Elderly

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
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.