Abstract
As the population ages, a growing amount of the additional care needed will come from informal caregivers. This chapter reviews the experience of caring for an elderly spouse, partner or parent. The focus is on the transition into becoming a primary informal caregiver for a spouse or aged parent and the implications for the caregiver. We use the rites of passage framework more explicitly than in other chapters to illustrate the phases of separation, liminality and reconnection, and we examine these in terms of the temporal, spatial and relational dimensions. We conclude by reflecting on what it means to be reconnected as a caregiver in this caregiving situation.
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Further Reading
Finch, J., & Mason, J. (1993). Negotiating family responsibilities. London: Routledge.
Janlov, A., Hallberg, I., & Petersson, K. (2006). Older persons’ experience of being assessed for and receiving public home help: Do they have any influence over it? Health & Social Care in the Community, 14(1), 26–36.
Pickard, L., Wittenberg, R., Comas-Herrera, A., Davies, B., & Darton, R. (2000). Relying on informal care in the new century? Informal care for elderly people in England to 2031. Ageing and Society, 20, 745–772.
Twigg, J., & Atkin, K. (1994). Carers perceived: Policy and practice of informal care. Buckingham: Open University Press.
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Barrett, P., Hale, B., Butler, M. (2014). Caring for Older People. In: Family Care and Social Capital: Transitions in Informal Care. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-6872-7_7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-6872-7_7
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