Meaning, self, context and process: A symbolic interactionist analysis of the caregiving career

Amy C Krull, Purdue University

Abstract

This study utilized a symbolic interactionist perspective to examine the caregiving career as it leads up to and includes nursing home placement. Previous studies that have tried to predict nursing home placement have found the best predictors of placement to be caregiver burden and health of the care recipient. However, what is missing from these analyses is how caregivers decide that either their own health or the health of the care recipient is too poor to continue care in the community. A symbolic interactionist perspective is applied to the issue of nursing home placement, focusing on meaning, self, context, and process. In-depth interviews were conducted with nineteen primary caregivers of elderly family members who were suffering from a variety of ailments, including Alzheimer's disease. In addition to interviews, observations were conducted at two caregiver support groups. A caregiving career model consisting of three phases was developed. In the first phase, caregivers establish the loved one needs care. In the second phase, caregivers, particularly adult children caring for parents, assume the role of caregiver. In the final phase of the model caregivers place their a loved one in a nursing home. Throughout each of these phases, caregivers are going through a process in which they are developing meanings in a context in order to arrive at decisions. Salient to meaning making were “critical events,” caregiver uncertainty, and “outsiders.” Placement in a nursing home is a multi-dimensional decision. It was determined that caregiver burden and care recipient health are important in understanding nursing home placement, however, they are better understood as experiences that are interpreted in a context of decision making.

Degree

Ph.D.

Advisors

Spencer, Purdue University.

Subject Area

Sociology

COinS