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“What Goes Around Comes Around”: Attitudes and Practices Regarding Ageing and Care for the Elderly Among Moroccan Muslim Women Living in Antwerp (Belgium)

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Abstract

The aim of this article is threefold. First, we seek to elicit the attitudes and practices of middle-aged and elderly Moroccan Muslim women towards ageing and care for the elderly. Second, we aim to identify possible differences between middle-aged and elderly women’s attitudes and practices. Third, we seek to explore which role religion plays in their attitudes and practices. Qualitative empirical research was conducted with a sample of middle-aged and elderly Moroccan Muslim women living in Antwerp (Belgium) (n = 30) and with experts in the field (n = 15). Our study unveils that ageing and care for the elderly are clearly understood from a religious framework. More specifically, theological and eschatological considerations take up a central position. Access to and utilization of professional elderly care is hampered by several barriers (e.g. religious, cultural and financial). We found a more open attitude towards professional elderly care among middle-aged women than among elderly women.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Research Unit of Theological and Comparative Ethics, Faculty of Theology and Religious Studies, KU Leuven, Sint-Michielsstraat 6, Box 3101, 3000, Louvain, Belgium

    Chaïma Ahaddour, Stef Van den Branden & Bert Broeckaert

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  1. Chaïma Ahaddour
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  2. Stef Van den Branden
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  3. Bert Broeckaert
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Correspondence to Chaïma Ahaddour.

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Ahaddour, C., Van den Branden, S. & Broeckaert, B. “What Goes Around Comes Around”: Attitudes and Practices Regarding Ageing and Care for the Elderly Among Moroccan Muslim Women Living in Antwerp (Belgium). J Relig Health 59, 986–1012 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-018-0562-x

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