Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-gbm5v Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-25T17:32:15.739Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Double-Duty Caregiving: Women in the Health Professions*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 March 2010

Catherine Ward-Griffin ,
Judith Belle Brown ,
Anthony Vandervoort ,
Susan McNair  and
Ian Dashnay
Catherine Ward-Griffin*
Affiliation:
Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Western Ontario
Judith Belle Brown
Affiliation:
Department of Family Medicine, University of Western Ontario Kings College, University of Western Ontario
Anthony Vandervoort
Affiliation:
Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Western Ontario
Susan McNair
Affiliation:
Department of Family Medicine, University of Western Ontario
Ian Dashnay
Affiliation:
Hospital of Saint Raphael, New Haven Connecticut
*
Requests for offprints should be sent to: / Les demandes de tirés-à-part doivent être addressées à : Dr. Catherine Ward-Griffin, Associate Professor, School of Nursing, Faculty of Health Science, University of Western Ontario, London, ON N6A 5C1. ([email protected])
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The purpose of this feminist narrative study was to examine the experiences of women in four different health professions (nursing, medicine, physiotherapy, and social work) who provided care to elderly relatives. Although caring is a central and common feature of the personal and professional lives of many women (Baines, Evans, & Neysmith, 1991; Baines, 2004), the separation of professional, paid caregiving from family, unpaid caregiving among health care providers is problematic. Study findings suggest that female health professionals who assume familial responsibilities continually negotiate the boundaries between their professional and personal caring work. Despite the use of a variety of strategies for managing their double-duty caregiving demands, many women experienced a dramatic blurring or erosion of these boundaries, resulting in feelings of isolation, tension, and extreme physical and mental exhaustion. These findings suggest that women who are double-duty caregivers, especially those with limited time, finances, or other tangible supports, may experience poor health, which warrants further study.

Résumé

Le but de cette analyse narrative féministe était d'étudier les expériences de femmes qui oeuvrent dans quatre professions médicales différentes (soins infirmiers, médecine, physiothérapie et travail social) et qui fournissent des soins à certains de leurs proches du troisième âge. Bien que la prestation de soins soit un élément central et commun des vies personnelles et professionnelles de nombreuses femmes (Baines, Evans et Neysmith, 1991; Baines, 2004), la séparation entre les soins professionnels rémunérés et les soins familiaux non rémunérés, chez les fournisseurs de soins de santé, est problématique. Les conclusions de l'étude semblent indiquer que les professionnelles de la santé qui assument des responsabilités familiales négocient constamment les limites entre les soins qu'ils fournissent à titre professionnel et à titre personnel. Malgré l'utilisation de diverses stratégies visant à gérer leur double fonction en matière de prestation de soins, de nombreuses femmes ont ressenti un effacement ou une érosion de ces limites, ce qui a donné lieu à des sentiments d'isolement, de tension et de fatigue physique et mentale extrême. Ces résultats révèlent que les femmes qui fournissent des soins dans ces deux contextes, surtout celles qui disposent de peu de temps, d'argent et d'autres soutiens concrets, peuvent avoir des problèmes de santé, ce qui justifierait des études plus poussées.

Keywords

agingfamily caregivingeldercarehealth care professionalsgenderhealthworkvieillissementprestation de soins dans la famillesoins aux aînésprofessionnels de la santésexesantétravail
Type
Articles
Information
Canadian Journal on Aging / La Revue canadienne du vieillissement , Volume 24 , Issue 4 , Winter/Hiver 2005 , pp. 379 - 394
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Association on Gerontology 2005

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

*

This study was funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (Internal Fund of the University ofWestern Ontario). A previous version of this article was presented at the scientific meeting of the Canadian Association on Gerontology and at the North American Primary Care Research Group Meeting. The authors wish to acknowledge the technical assistance of Abram Oudshoorn with the preparation of Figures 1 and 2.

References

Allen, S.M. (1994). Gender differences in spousal caregiving and unmet need for care. Journal of Gerontology: Social Sciences, 49(4), S187–S195.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Armstrong, P., & Armstrong, H. (1994). The double ghetto: Canadian women and their segregated work (3rd ed.). Toronto: McClelland and Stewart.Google Scholar
Armstrong, P., & Armstrong, H. (2001). Women, privatization and health care reform: The Ontario case. In Armstrong, P., Amarutunga, C., Bernier, J., Grant, K., Pederson, A., & Willson, K. (Eds.), Exposing privatization: Women and health care reform in Canada (pp. 63–216). Toronto: Garamond Press.Google Scholar
Armstrong, P., & Armstrong, H. (2002). Wasting away: The undermining of Canadian health care (2nd ed.). Don Mills, ON: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Armstrong, P., & Armstrong, H. (2004). Thinking it through: Women, work, and caring in the new millennium. In Grant, K., Amarutunga, C., Armstrong, P., Boscoe, M., Pederson, A., & Wilson, K. (Eds.), Caring for/Caring about: Women, home care and unpaid caregiving (pp. 5–44). Aurora, ON: Garamond Press.Google Scholar
Armstrong, P. & Kitts, O. (2004). One hundred years of caregiving. In Grant, K., Amaratunga, C., Armstrong, P., Boscoe, M., Pederson, A., & Willson, K. (Eds.), Caring for/Caring about: Women, home care and unpaid caregiving (pp. 45–73). Aurora, ON: Garamond Press.Google Scholar
Aronson, J. (1992). Women's sense of responsibility for the care of old people: “But who else is going to do it?” Gender and Society, 6(1), 175–194.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baines, D. (2004). Seven kinds of work - only one paid: Raced, gendered and restructured work in social services. Atlantis, 28(2), 19–28.Google Scholar
Baines, C., Evans, P., & Neysmith, S. (Eds.). (1991). Women's caring: Feminist perspectives on social welfare. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart.Google Scholar
Barnett, R., & Marshall, N. (1992). Worker and mother roles, spillover effects, and psychological distress. Women and Health, 18(2), 9–36.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Blood, G.W., Simpson, K.C., Dineen, M., Kauffman, S., & Raimnon, S.C. (1994). Spouses of individuals with laryngeal cancer: Caregiver strain and burden. Journal of Communication Disorders, 27, 19–35.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Clarke, J., Cochrane, A., & Smart, C. (1987). Ideologies of warfare: From dreams to disillusion. London: Century Hutchinson.Google Scholar
Denton, M., Zeytinoglu, I., Webb, S., & Lian, J. (1999). Occupational health issues among employees of home care agencies. Canadian Journal on Aging, 18(2), 154–181.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Driscoll, K., & McFarland, J. (1988). The impact of a feminist perspective on research methodologies. In Tomm, W. (Ed.), The effects of feminist approaches on research methodologies (pp. 186–203). Waterloo, ON: Wilfrid Laurier University Press.Google Scholar
Duxbury, L., & Higgins, C. (2001). Work-life balance in the new millennium: Where are we? Where do we need to go? (Report No. CPRN discussion paper W/12). Ottawa: Canadian Policy Research Networks.Google Scholar
Fine, M. (1994). Distance and other stances. Negotiations of power inside feminist research. In Gitlin, A. (Ed.), Power and method: Political activism and educational research (pp. 13–35). London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Gottlieb, B.H., Kelloway, E.K., & Martin Matthews, A. (1996). Predictions of work-conflict, stress and job satisfaction among nurses. Canadian Journal of Nursing Research, 28(2), 99–117.Google Scholar
Grant, K., Amaratunga, C., Armstrong, P., Boscoe, M., Pederson, A., & Wilson, K. (2004). Caring for/Caring about: Women, home care and unpaid caregiving. Aurora, ON: Garamond Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gregor, F. (1997). From women to women: Nurses, informal caregivers and the gender dimension of health care reform in Canada. Health and Social Care in the Community, 5(1), 30–36.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Guberman, N., & Maheu, P. (1999). Combining employment and caregiving: An intricate juggling act. Canadian Journal on Aging, 18(1), 84–106.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hooyman, N. (1990). Women as caregivers for the elderly. In Biegal, D. & Blum, A. (Eds.), Aging and caregiving (pp. 221–241). Newbury Park, CA: Sage.Google Scholar
Hooyman, N.R., & Gonyea, J. (1995). Feminist perspectives on family care: Policies for gender justice. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lofland, J., & Lofland, L. (1995). Analyzing social settings: A guide to qualitative observation and analysis (3rd ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.Google Scholar
MacDonald, J. (1998). Patterns of renewal in mothers who are nurses. Canadian Nurse, 94(19), 24–28.Google ScholarPubMed
McKeever, P. (1992). Mothering chronically-ill, technology-dependent children: An analysis using critical theory. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, York University, Toronto.Google Scholar
McKeever, P. (1994). Between women: Nurses and family caregivers. Canadian Journal of Nursing Research, 26(4), 15–21.Google ScholarPubMed
Merton, R.K., Fiske, M., & Kendall, P.L. (1990). The focus interview: A manual of problems and procedures (2nd ed.). New York: Free Press.Google Scholar
Morris, M. (2001). Gender-sensitive home and community care and caregiving research: A synthesis paper. Ottawa, ON: Women's Health Bureau, Health Canada.Google Scholar
Morse, J.M. (1994). Designing funded qualitative research. In Denzin, N.K. & Lincoln, Y.S. (Eds.), Handbook of qualitative research (pp. 220–235). London: Sage.Google Scholar
National Coordinating Group on Health Care Reform and Women (2000). Women and health care reform. Ottawa, ON: Author.Google Scholar
National Coordinating Group on Health Care Reform and Women (2003). Reading Romanow: The implications of the final report of the Commission on the Future of Health Care in Canada for women. Winnipeg, MB: Author.Google Scholar
Neysmith, S. (1991). From community care to a social model of care. In Baines, C., Evans, P., & Neysmith, S. (Eds.), Women's caring: Feminist perspectives on social welfare (pp. 272–299). Toronto: McClelland and Stewart.Google Scholar
Northouse, L., Modd, D., Templin, T., Mellon, S., & George, T. (2000). Couples' patterns of adjustment to colon cancer. Social Science and Medicine, 50, 271–284.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Pascall, G. (1986). Social policy: A feminist analysis. New York: Tavistock.Google Scholar
Pearlin, L.J., Mullen, J.T., Semple, S.J., & Skaff, M.M. (1990). Caregiving and the stress process: An overview of concepts and their measures. The Gerontologist, 30, 583–594.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Phillips, J., Bernard, M., & Chittenden, M. (2002). Juggling work and care: The experiences of working carers of older adults. Bristol, UK: Policy Press.Google Scholar
Richards, T.J., & Richards, L. (1994). Using computers in qualitative research. In Denzin, N. & Lincoln, Y. (Eds.), Handbook of qualitative research (pp. 445–462). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.Google Scholar
Riessman, C. (1993). Narrative analysis. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.Google Scholar
Romanow, R. (2002). Building on values: the future of health care in Canada. Ottawa: Commission on the Future of Health Care in Canada.Google Scholar
Ross, M.M., Rideout, E.M., & Carson, M.M. (1996). Nurses' work: Balancing personal and professional caregiving careers. Canadian Journal of Nursing Research, 26(4), 43–59.Google Scholar
Rutman, D. (1996). Caregiving as women's work: Women's experiences of powerfulness and powerlessness as caregivers. Qualitative Health Research, 6(1), 90–111.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Statistics Canada (1999). Participation rates and unemployment rates by age and sex. Ottawa, ON: Author. Retrieved 24 September 2005 from http://www.40.statcan.ca/101/cst01/labor20a.htm?sdi=unemploymentGoogle Scholar
Ungerson, C. (1990). The language of care: Crossing the boundaries. In Ungerson, C. (Ed.), Gender and caring: Work and welfare in Britain and Scandinavia (pp. 8–33). New York: Harvester.Google Scholar
Walby, S. (1994). Towards a theory of patriarchy. In The polity reader in gender studies (pp. 22–28). England: Beachwell.Google Scholar
Walker, A. (1991). The relationship between the family and the state in the care of old people. Canadian Journal on Aging, 10(2), 94–112.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Walters, V., Beardwood, B., Eyles, J., & French, S. (1995). Paid and unpaid work roles of male and female nurses. In Messing, K., Neis, B., & Dumais, L. (Eds.), Invisible: Issues in women's occupational health (pp. 125–149). New York: Gynergy.Google Scholar
Walters, V., Eyles, J., French, S., Lenton, R., & Mayr, J. (1995). The effects of paid and unpaid work on nurses' well-being. Paper presented at the Work-Life in the 1990s: An International Nurses' Forum, Toronto, ON.Google Scholar
Walters, V., Lenton, R., French, S., Eyles, J., Mayr, J., & Newbold, B. (1996). Paid work, unpaid work and social support: A study of the health of male and female nurses. Social Science in Medicine, 43(11), 1627–1636.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ward-Griffin, C. (2001). Negotiating care of frail elders: Relationships between community nurses and family caregivers. Canadian Journal of Nursing Research, 33(2), 63–82.Google ScholarPubMed
Ward-Griffin, C. (2002). Boundaries and connections between formal and informal caregivers. Canadian Journal on Aging, 21(2), 205–216.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ward-Griffin, C. (2004). Nurses as caregivers of elderly relatives: Refining personal and professional boundaries. Canadian Journal of Nursing Research, 36(1), 92–114.Google Scholar
Ward-Griffin, C., & Marshall, V. (2003). Reconceptualizing the relationship between public and private eldercare. Journal of Aging Studies, 17, 189–208.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wuest, J. (1998). Setting boundaries: A strategy for precarious ordering of women's caring demands. Research in Nursing & Health, 2, 39–49.3.0.CO;2-U>CrossRefGoogle Scholar