Partner care at the end-of-life

Identity, language and characteristics

Bibliographic Data

ID11201201
AuthorsAnne Corden (University of York, corresponding author), Michael Hirst (University of York)
Year2011
Volume31
Issue2
Pages217-242
Publication date2011-02-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueAgeing and Society (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0144-686X • E-ISSN: 1469-1779
PublisherCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s0144686x10000838
OpenAlexW2124987257
LanguageEN
Citations received11
References cited22

The delivery of services and benefits to people supporting older and disabled relatives and friends depends largely on their identification within constructs of ‘care-giving’ and ‘carer’. Those who are married or living with a partner may be particularly resistant to adopting the identity of ‘care-giver’ or ‘care receiver’. This paper investigates the circumstances of couples and their adoption of carer identities, drawing on a study of the financial implications of a partner's death. That study was based on over 750 couples where one partner died, drawn from the British Household Panel Survey, and separate qualitative interviews with people whose partner died in the previous two years. The findings show that carer self-identification was influenced by the partner's health-care needs and service contacts, including welfare benefits receipts. None of the socio-demographic factors considered was statistically linked to whether people described themselves as providing care for their partner, unless there was an underlying association with the partner's health-care needs. The findings underline the problems of using self-reported identities in surveys and estimates of take-up of services and benefits, and the difficulties of delivering entitlements to people who care for their partner at the end-of-life. A challenge for policy makers is how to move beyond formal categories of ‘carer’ and ‘care-giving’ to incorporate inter-dependence, emotional commitment and the language of relationships in planning support for frail older people

Business · Health care · Identification (biology) · Identity (music) · Political science · Qualitative research · Service (business) · Sociology · Welfare · Geriatric Care and Nursing Homes · Health disparities and outcomes · Intergenerational Family Dynamics and Caregiving · Marketing · Medicine · Nursing · Psychology · Social Psychology

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