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Informal and Formal Long-term Care for Frail Older Adults in Cairo, Egypt: Family Caregiving Decisions in a Context of Social Change

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Abstract

This paper explores the factors that lead family caregivers to place their frail older relatives into long-term care centers in Cairo, Egypt despite norms of family care. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 18 “case” caregivers who placed their older relatives into long-term care and 17 “control” caregivers who provided for their older relatives at home. Cases and controls differed in their relationship to the older adult, number and proximity of supportive siblings, and perceived health status of the older adult. Caregivers who used long-term care justified their decision by stressing the need for relief from the burden of caregiving, and by conceiving long-term care as part of a broadened definition of family care. Egyptians are devising new strategies of care despite persistent norms of reciprocity among kin. As demographic, epidemiologic, and socioeconomic changes continue, families may adopt new combinations of care to support their frail older relatives. Findings underscore the need for population-based research about strategies of caring for frail older relatives in this context.

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Notes

  1. Yount, Kathryn (Principal Investigator) “Cross-Cultural Measurement of Gender Differences in Disability and Care.” Grant 1 RO3 AG21707-01, funded by National Institute on Aging, September 2002.

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Acknowledgements

This research was supported by grants from the O. C. Hubert Charitable Trust and Emory University’s Institute for Comparative and International Studies. We wish to thank the staff of Palestine Hospital in Cairo, Egypt and Emory University’s Rollins School of Public Health in Atlanta, GA. The comments of anonymous reviewers on previous versions of this paper are appreciated.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Social and Behavioral Sciences Department, School of Public Health, Boston University, Boston, MA, USA

    Michele Sinunu

  2. Hubert Department of Global Health, Rollins School of Public Health and Department of Sociology, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA

    Kathryn M. Yount

  3. Department of Geriatrics, Palestine Hospital, Cairo, Egypt

    Nadia Abdel Whab El Afify

  4. 63A Chandler Street, Boston, MA, 02116, USA

    Michele Sinunu

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  1. Michele Sinunu
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  2. Kathryn M. Yount
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  3. Nadia Abdel Whab El Afify
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Correspondence to Michele Sinunu.

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Sinunu, M., Yount, K.M. & El Afify, N.A.W. Informal and Formal Long-term Care for Frail Older Adults in Cairo, Egypt: Family Caregiving Decisions in a Context of Social Change. J Cross Cult Gerontol 24, 63–76 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10823-008-9074-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10823-008-9074-6

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