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Centre for Policy on Ageing | |
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Informal care in farming families in Northern Ireland
— some considerations for social work | | Author(s) | Deirdre Heenan |
| Journal title | British Journal of Social Work, vol 30, no 6, December 2000 |
| Pages | pp 855-866 |
| Keywords | The Family ; Agricultural Industry ; Family care ; Attitude ; Northern Ireland. |
| Annotation | Most of our knowledge of informal care is largely urban based and quantitative. This study uses in-depth interviews with Northern Ireland "farm wives", for whom care-giving patterns are dependent on a particular set of cultural expectations and norms. Within farming families, there is much resistance to becoming involved with formal social services. Outside help with the care of an older relatives is often seen as an admission of failure: there is pride in being able to look after one's own family members, and a stigma attached to using social services. For these women, the concept of "carer" has no bearing on their lives and is not something to which they can relate. The paper challenges the depiction of caring as a one-sided relationship where the person being cared for is a passive recipient. It is suggested that caring is not necessarily oppressive, but may be rewarding and positive. If social workers are to support and facilitate informal care, they must be fully aware and understand the diversity of care provision and the different contexts in which care is undertaken. Any intervention must be sensitive to farming families' deeply embedded ideas and perceptions. (RH). |
| Accession Number | CPA-010221203 A |
| Classmark | SJ: X4: P6:SJ: DP: 9Y |
Data © Centre for Policy on Ageing |
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| ...from the Ageinfo database published by Centre for Policy on Ageing. |
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