Bifarin Oladayo, Quinn Catherine, Breen Liz, Yu Liu, Oyebode Jan
Centre for Applied Dementia Studies, Faculty of Health Studies, University of Bradford, Bradford, UK.
School of Nursing and Allied Health, Faculty of Health, Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool, UK.
Int J Geriatr Psychiatry. 2023 Feb;38(2):e5887. doi: 10.1002/gps.5887.
In China there is a cultural expectation (Xiao, -filial piety) that offspring should provide care for their parents. However, the sustainability of this is threatened by the impact of the One-Child Policy (OCP) (1979-2015), which has resulted in a diminution in numbers of children available to care, rapid urbanisation and increase in the number of women in employment. In this context, the objective was to explore the motivations, meaning, and preparedness for future caregiving of offspring affected by the OCP.
We adopted a constructivist position using a hermeneutic phenomenology approach and interviewed eight current and prospective caregivers aged 20-35 years about future caregiving responsibilities. Data were obtained through in-depth interviews, analysed using reflective Thematic Analysis.
RESULTS AND CONCLUSION(S): Three prominent themes: (i) Caregiving beliefs, (ii) Caregiving conditions and (iii) Contextual factors were identified under an overarching theme "Competing pressures-meanings, motivation and preparedness". Despite the inherent stress, participants envisaged providing or organising care in the future to fulfil Xiao, and most viewed long-term care settings as unviable. Ultimately, the findings suggested that the actual performance of caregiving would not always measure up to ideal expectations, resulting in 'filial discrepancy' that is, a gap between societal expectations for caregiving to older relatives and actual caregiving performance. This could adversely impact the caregivers and quality of care provided. The findings highlighted the urgent need to develop culturally attuned services, including education and training for family caregivers, health and social care professionals.
在中国，存在一种文化期望（孝），即子女应为父母提供照料。然而，独生子女政策（1979 - 2015年）的影响对这种期望的可持续性构成了威胁，该政策导致能够提供照料的子女数量减少、城市化快速发展以及就业女性数量增加。在此背景下，本研究的目的是探讨受独生子女政策影响的子女未来照料父母的动机、意义和准备情况。
我们采用建构主义立场，运用诠释现象学方法，对8名年龄在20 - 35岁的现任和未来照料者进行了关于未来照料责任的访谈。通过深入访谈获取数据，并使用反思性主题分析法进行分析。
在“相互竞争的压力——意义、动机和准备情况”这一总体主题下，确定了三个突出主题：（i）照料信念，（ii）照料条件，以及（iii）背景因素。尽管存在内在压力，但参与者仍设想未来会提供或组织照料以践行孝道，并且大多数人认为长期照料机构不可行。最终，研究结果表明，实际的照料表现并不总是能达到理想期望，从而导致“孝道差异”，即社会对照料老年亲属的期望与实际照料表现之间的差距。这可能会对照料者和所提供的照料质量产生不利影响。研究结果凸显了迫切需要开发符合文化特点的服务，包括为家庭照料者、健康和社会护理专业人员提供教育和培训。
