She is a very Special Person: Male Caregiver in the Intersection between Informal and Formal Care

Torbjørn Andersen ()
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Torbjørn Andersen: University of Algarve, Postal: Associate Professor, Gjøvik University College, Faculty of Health, Care, and Nursing, Norway, http://english.hig.no/

Journal of Tourism, Sustainability and Well-being, 2014, vol. 2, issue 2, 176-194

Abstract: This paper presents the story of a Norwegian man in his mid-70s, primary caretaker for his wife who suffers from Alzheimer’s disease. Focus is on the cooperation with home-based public health-care services. The case is part of a larger qualitative research project on the topic. The story has come into being through narrative interviews followed up with telephone conversations and is analyzed with Antonovsky’s Sense of Coherence as a frame of reference. Three topics are highlighted: 1) The carer’s journey during the time of his wife’s illness; 2) His description and construction of meaning and ways of coping; 3) The interaction between him as a caregiver and professional health workers. The research project aims to highlight the rationality of caring facing the organizational/bureaucratic framework conditions of home-based public health care. As the caregiver is watching his loved one being changed into someone who is unrecognizable he needs to adjust to a new reality of which a working relationship with home-based public health care is an element. Concerning the latter, a very important factor is the respect for the uniqueness of the couple’s story and situation, as well as the acknowledgement of the caregiver’s expertise – or lack thereof.

Keywords: Male Caregivers; Informal Care; Rationality of Care; Sense of Coherence (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I12 I14 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2014
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