Continuing or refusing to care: The meaning of placing a spouse in long term care

Abstract

A recognition that caregiving takes place within the context of a relationship and a history raises the issue of the meanings of caregiving within these contexts. This paper reports on in-depth interviews with 18-spouses exploring the meaning of placing and visiting a long term partner in residential care. The research concludes that, for spouse carers, an understanding of how the transition is framed by the decision-making process, the actual relocation and the prior caregiving history is essential to understanding the impact of the placement and the stress associated with visiting. A comparison of the reports of carers of spouses with dementia with those of spouses who cared for a physically disabled partner suggests that the former experience the transition differently because it is more likely to be constructed as a refusal to, rather than a continuation of, care for a long term partner.