Department of Geography, Queen's University, Mackintosh-Corry Hall, Kingston, Ontario, Canada K7L 3N6.
Soc Sci Med. 2013 Aug;91:186-93. doi: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2012.08.037. Epub 2012 Oct 16.
This paper extends the burgeoning interest in emotion, health and place by investigating the emotionally complex experiences of aging and care in rural settings. Featuring a thematic analysis of 44 semi-structured interviews and two focus groups with older people and their carers in rural Ontario (Canada) we examine the importance and implications of emotions within and across multiple scales at which care relationships, expectations and responsibilities are negotiated. With the aim of broadening the discussion surrounding geographical dimensions of ethical care, our approach draws on feminist care ethics to understand the multifaceted ways in which emotions shape and are shaped by experiences of aging and caring at the interpersonal, household and community scales. The findings reveal how emotions are central, yet often-overlooked and even hidden within care relationships among older rural people and their carers. We argue that ethical care is contingent on recognizing and valuing the situated emotions involved in doing care work, sustaining care relationships and asking for care. In doing so, we demonstrate how qualitative research on the emotional geographies of care can contribute to the development of informed policies that are contextually sensitive and, ultimately, have the potential to build more ethical rural conditions of care.
本文通过调查农村环境中老龄化和护理的复杂情感体验，扩展了人们对情感、健康和场所的浓厚兴趣。本文对加拿大安大略省农村的老年人及其护理人员进行了 44 次半结构化访谈和 2 次焦点小组的主题分析，研究了在护理关系、期望和责任协商的多个层面上，情感的重要性和影响。为了拓宽围绕道德护理的地理维度的讨论，我们的方法借鉴了女性主义关怀伦理，以理解情感在人际、家庭和社区层面上塑造和被老龄化和护理体验塑造的多方面方式。研究结果揭示了情感在老年农村居民及其护理人员之间的护理关系中是核心的，但往往被忽视甚至隐藏。我们认为，道德护理取决于认识和重视护理工作、维持护理关系和寻求护理中涉及的情境情感。通过这样做，我们展示了关于关怀情感地理学的定性研究如何有助于制定具有上下文敏感性的知情政策，最终有可能建立更符合伦理的农村关怀条件。
