Article Text
Abstract
Objective This study aimed to assess the attitudes and beliefs of Spanish families regarding their elderly family members aged 75 years and over who live alone, with consideration of gender and educational differences among the family members.
Methods This qualitative study was based on the critical social paradigm, the theory of constructivist structuralism and Bourdieu’s theory of sociology of action. Four discussion groups were created with the following distribution of family members based on their gender and educational level: women with higher education, women with basic or secondary education, men with higher education and men with basic or secondary education. Participants were selected using purposive and snowball sampling. Announcements inviting voluntary participation were posted at primary health care facilities, social centres and neighbourhood associations in Mallorca, Spain.
Results Analyses of the group discussions and a field journal revealed that families believe that elderly individuals prefer to live alone to retain their freedom and individual identities.
Conclusions Families held two main views regarding elderly individuals living alone: a more traditional one in which elderly care is considered a moral duty associated with women, and a more modern view in which elderly care is considered a personal option that can be delegated. Sociomedical resources were considered insufficient and not easily accessible.
- family
- aging
- caregivers
- housing
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Footnotes
Contributors JG-E and JM-M conceived and designed the experiments; JM-M and JG-E led the discussion groups; all authors analysed the data; AM-N contributed reagents/materials/analysis tools; JM-M and JG-E wrote the paper and reviewed and edited the manuscript.
Funding This study was funded by the Spanish Health Research Fund (Fondo de Investigación Sanitaria) of the Carlos III Health Institute, which reports to the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (PI09/90248).
Competing interests None declared.
Ethics approval The study protocol was also assessed and approved by the Research Commission and the Ethics Committee of the University of the Balearic Islands and the Clinical Research Ethics Committee of the Balearic Islands.
Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.
Data sharing statement In a private database, the interviews and focal groups transcribed have been stored as personal information.
Patient consent for publication Obtained.