Adult children and parental care-giving: making sense of participation patterns among siblings

ABSTRACTThe aim of this article is to analyse 20 Finnish working carers' perceptions of their sibling relations and the sharing of the responsibility for parental care. The main focus is on the interviewees' rationales for the participation or non-participation of their siblings in the parents' care. Almost all the interviewed carers stated that the division of care responsibilities is unequal and that they are the primary carers, but the majority did not convey any clear intention to try to persuade their siblings to increase their participation in parental care. In many cases, the siblings were described either as entirely absent or as providing occasional backup, but some interviewees re…

Vanhusneuvoston funktioita jäljittämässä : tutkimus maaseutumaisten kuntien vanhusneuvostoista

Vanhusneuvostojen asema kuntaorganisaation ja kansalaisyhteiskunnan välimaastossa ei ole yksiselitteinen. Leinosen tutkimuksen vanhusneuvostot hakivat vielä paikkaansa, eikä eläkeläisiä ja vanhuksia koskevien asioiden saattaminen vanhusneuvoston käsiteltäväksi ollut vakiintunut käytäntö. Neuvostoihin kuitenkin suhtauduttiin myönteisesti ja eläkeläisjäseniltä toivottiin aloitteellisuutta ja aktiivisuutta. Neuvostoja pidettiin ikääntyneiden kuntakansalaisten äänitorvena kuntaan päin ja myös kuntaorganisaation edustajien tuntosarvena ikäväestön toiveisiin ja mielipiteisiin.Ongelmallista on, että ikääntynyt vanhusneuvostovaikuttaja kohtasi odotuksia yhteiskunnallisesta vaikuttamisesta, mutta my…

Hoivan tekijät : suomalainen hoivatyö pohjoismaisessa tarkastelussa

Family carers and lack of personal time: Descriptions of being outside the sphere of formal help

The aim of this article is to study manifestations of uncomfortable familial commitments. The connection of such commitments to informal family carers' descriptions of problems in accessibility of services and to descriptions of preferences regarding limited use of formal help is examined. The data consists of 21 qualitative interviews of Finnish persons who, alongside their gainful employment, cared for their parent(s). It is argued that the lives of adult children and parent(s) needing care and help are interdependent, and various uncomfortable familial commitments exist due to problems in service provision (accessibility of services) or the reluctance of parents to accept formal help (us…

Kohtaamisia vanhussosiaalityössä : tutkimus sosiaalityöntekijöiden ja ikääntyneiden asiakkaiden välisistä keskusteluista

CAN I TELL JUST BY MYSELF? DISCUSSING A PARENTAL MENTAL DISORDER WITH A CHILD IN A RESEARCH INTERVIEW

In this single-case study, we focus on how to have a dialogue in a research interview with a child whose parent has been diagnosed with a mental disorder. The interactional context and the interviewer’s role in co-constructing the child’s accounts have been largely neglected in the qualitative psychological research on this subject. Stigma related to mental disorders is increasingly being recognized as a central issue for the entire mental health field. It is considered to have far-reaching effects on the social interaction of the stigmatized person and also to contaminate the interactions of those around that person. We examine how the stigma of a parental mental disorder arises and is neg…

Transformation by stealth: the retargeting of home care services in Finland

This paper analyses the trends and changes that home care services for older people have undergone during the last two decades in Finland. The data used come from national social care statistics, covering the time period from 1990-2010. The results show that, in contrast to many other European nations that have expanded their home care provisions, the coverage levels in Finland have dropped dramatically during this period. Those with the highest needs do receive increased amounts of support, but others have become excluded from publicly funded home care provisions and often need to rely on family members. In most localities, public service provision is focused on personal care, and no longe…