Rural Arab Families Coping with Caregiving

• DOI: 10.1300/j002v30n01_11
• Publication Date: 2004-12-20T22:01:29Z
• Authors: Ariela Lowenstein; Ruth Katz
• Keywords: 03 medical and health sciences; 0302 clinical medicine

SUMMARY This research examines the coping patterns of the rural Arab family in caring for a chronically ill elderly relative. The Arab community in Israel is in transition as a result of modernization with changes occurring in the traditional family structure, family norms and living arrangements. This study was conceptualized within the framework of intergenerational solidarity versus ambivalence and utilized a qualitative approach based on the phenomenological paradigm. Data were collected from 10 family units with a chronically ill homebound elder, by means of in-depth interviews. Four people were selected from each unit including the elder, his/her spouse-the primary caregiver-and two other secondary caregivers, usually sons and daughters-in-law. The data indicate the uniqueness of coping patterns among these caregivers in regard to two main components, which are contradictory to findings in the family caregiving literature: differences in the gender of child caregivers and the family readiness to use...