An excess of culture: the myth of shared care in the Chinese community in Britain

Abstract

This paper aims to study the applicability of the shared care approach in the Chinese community in Britain. The discussion is based on findings of two studies on family care of older people in London conducted respectively in 1991 and 1998. Both studies examined the needs of Chinese older people and whether and how their needs were met by informal care. The findings show that there is a strong belief among Chinese families that older people should live with their sons. While the Chinese families were highly motivated to take care of their older family members, and many of them felt obliged to live with their parents and wanted to give assistance to them, not all were, in practice, able to do so as much as they would have wished. Shortfall between what older people needed and the assistance they received was obvious, especially in relation to personal care. It is argued that traditional Chinese values still carry some influence in obliging the Chinese to look after their elderly family members. However, they are not sufficiently influential to guarantee sufficient care. A unique model of shared care is thus clearly and precisely called for by the findings of this study.