I believe it would be accurate to say that without the care and support of caregivers, our loved ones who are in need of care whether due to physical or mental limitations would not have a comfortable standard of living. Imagine you are suffering from Bipolar disorder and from time to time must be hospitalized. Without family to get you there, and without the nurses and aides to look after you while recovering, how would any healing be possible?
The article by McKeever (1999) highlighted a few issues surrounding caregiving and how nursing and similar fields are predominately jobs where women are in the majority. It has become an issue and the source of much debate since women who are in the caregiving field are typically underpaid and in competition for jobs with family members who are now staying home full time because they can’t afford the care of nurses in the home (McKeever, 1999) . But not only do nurses encounter issues with employment, those who stay home to care for family members tend to be women, and they do not get paid at all for what they do. It is preferable that in order to be full time caregiver, you have a spouse who would then be the “breadwinner” while you stay home or else you would have the struggle of balancing work, and someone else’s well being (not to mention your own).
Being the sole provider of care for someone who may be mentally disabled can have a large impact on your health, physically, mentally and emotionally. If you were home all day caring for someone doing all the cleaning, lifting, and cooking eventually you may feel burnt out and that can lead to depression or anxiety, even feelings of hostility (Hawranik & Strain, 2007) .
Hawranik and Strain (2007) talk about three “themes” they encountered during their study on caregivers. They were: deterioration of health, psychological toll and sense of responsibility. All of these are an understandable issue when you are caring for someone who can’t do everything for themselves anymore. Many care givers, whether looking after someone who is physically, or mentally disabled can reach a point where they don’t know where to turn and feel as though there is nothing they can do for their loved one. Not being able to afford services may be a problem, but so is not being aware of the services that are available (Hawranik & Strain, 2007).
The role of caregiver has typically been the stereotypical role for women. There is a similarity between nurses and women who care for family at home. They both lack resources to help them with the emotional, physical and financial effects of caring for those who require assistance. Protesting is not seen as something a woman would do, but as this article suggests, public knowledge and the fight for change is what will create more resources, and break the stereotype that women are “supposed” to be caregivers (McKeever, 1999) .
I recently went to the store with my mom to finish up some holiday shopping and saw a woman holding hands with her mother. They were walking very slowly (slightly holding up the traffic) and the older woman seemed very confused. I assumed she may have had dementia, or maybe could not hear well. Regardless of their relation or her condition I immediately thought of how this could be me one day taking care of my own parents. Zipping up their coat before we take a step into the cold or helping them up the steps. It’s hard to say whether this will be one of my responsibilities along with having a family of my own one day and I’ll have to cross that bridge when I come to it. However I couldn’t help but wonder as I saw the young lady with the older woman,” does she have help? Is she the sole provider for her family? Does she have a brother or sister who is willing to take his mother out once in a while as well?” The need for resources for home care givers is important now more than ever especially with the increasing aging population. Women still seem to have a larger role for responsibility or at least that is what is sometimes assumed. They need services as well because if they do not have their health they can’t help their family from a hospital bed.
Jennilee M.
Jennilee M.
Hawranik, P. G., & Strain, L. A. (2007). Giving voice to informal
caregivers of Older Adults: Canadian Journal of Nursing
Research, 156-172.
McKeever,P. (1999). Between Women: Nurses and Family Caregiver.
Canadian Journal of Nursing Research, 185-191.
caregivers of Older Adults: Canadian Journal of Nursing
Research, 156-172.
McKeever,P. (1999). Between Women: Nurses and Family Caregiver.
Canadian Journal of Nursing Research, 185-191.
Very interesting topic. I thik that you brought up some really important issues about women who are caregivers in the workforce and at home. It seems that those breadwinner/breadmaker roles automatically translated to the workforce ever since women started working outside the home. I think women are educated throughout their upbringing and socialized throughout their life to except less pay for what they do and to do alot of unpaid or uncompensated labour in the home. I think our recent recession really said alot about divisions of labour in the workforce because more men than women lost their jobs. The reason for that was because most women were working in essential services such as nursing, childcare, etc. Men working in advertising, construction, business, IT and banking were making more money in terms of pay but then lost their jobs when the economy bottomed out. Suddenly women were the breadwinners and sole supporters of the household who went out and worked while the men stayed at home looking after family and home. I bet alot of men started to ask, "why doesn't my wife get paid more than she does? Especially if she's working as hard as I do." And even working in childcare I've noticed my few male co-workers get paid more than the rest of us women. When my female co-workers ask for a raise we are told "to do it all for the children" and are made to feel guilty and selfish. Yet I am more qualified than those few men. Huh? go figure.
ReplyDeleteRachel Ryan-Dorn
Jennilee,
ReplyDeleteIt is rather unfortunate that family members are in a constant struggle between either staying home to provide personal home care for their families or working to support their families financially, in order to fund the professional care givers needed for their loved ones care. The unfortunate part of this situation is that the government is doing little to help make this decision less stressful. Nurses’ employment opportunities are being compromised with family members choosing to stay at home because of the financial burden of using these nursing services. However, as you say, the families’ caregivers are frequently suffering physically, psychologically, and financially. Some services available to supplement family care only marginally remove the burden from the family, but introduce new variables that are impossible to predict. However, there are in fact many options for help with caring for dependant family members. There are many private facilities as well as programs through the WRHA that provide services such as “homecare, community supported living, long term care, and services to seniors” (WHRA, Retrieved from http://www.wrha.mb.ca/community/wis/about_hss.php). Help options are accessible through family physicians or quite often can be found online. I do understand that there is most likely a fee for these services. For those who choose to stay home, they can access many respite options in order to have some personal time and not have to worry about the care their loved one is receiving. This is comparative to choosing to have a family. When you need to “get away” for a few hours you need to find a baby sitter whom you trust to care for your child. Respite offers this for caregivers of the disabled and elderly. Self-care is crucial in mental health and family members need to take advantage of the programs available though the government; however their services need to be affordable. The government should subsidize those who choose to stay home and provide round the clock care for disabled or elderly family members, something along the lines of the family allowance you receive for each dependent child (dependent on family income) for example. This would not address the availability of job opportunities for nurses, and may in fact make matters worse. There is a fine line between the two options. I myself share the same concern as you do about my own family and if I will need to be the one providing care in the future. I hope that our political leaders have this straightened out by the time that I am in the position where I must decide what route is best to provide optimal care for my own loved ones.
-Darcie B.
Hello Jennilee, yes we see such an over representation of women in care giving roles and an underrepresentation in more masculine type roles. The sad part about it is that many people think it is not longer a problem and no longer exists because women have more rights and more women are in the work force instead of the homemaker role. It is hard to fix an issue if people feel there isn’t one. I agree that there needs to be some awareness out there so that people see that there is still a problem inside about outside the home when it comes to overrepresentation of women in care giving roles.
ReplyDeleteNicole G