Changing moralities: Rethinking elderly care in Spain

Abstract

Demographic and social changes in Europe and OECD countries have increased the number of dependents in recent decades, challenging the organisation of health systems and raising calls for re‐definition of long‐term care services. In Spain the crisis of care has challenged a care regime based strongly on the family. Recent social policies have attempted to address this challenge. This article analyses the ideal of family care expressed by women who have traditionally played the role of caregivers. Reflecting a disruption of previously held moral attitudes throughout society, elderly women manifest new expectations in relation to their own care, redefining the scope of filial obligation and linking it to a renewed notion of independency and autonomy. However, in the current context of financial crisis, family care appears not as a choice, but an undesirable consequence of the lack of public policies. The study applies a theoretical approach based on the anthropology of moralities.

trabajo político de las emociones

“…In general, older people are taken into care home when caring at home is no longer viable. This usually produces a moral conflict that can be related to a conception of caring at home as a still--predominant cultural ideal (Comas-d'Argemir and Soronellas 2019;Bofill-Poch 2018). The multiple pathologies that older people often have require adapted care homes and professionalised care that cannot be provided at home, as well as time and availability for care.…”

Soledades y conflictos en los hospitales: Una mirada desde el trabajo social, la ética del cuidado y la planificación del alta con personas mayores en situación de dependencia

“…En consonancia, existe un escaso acompañamiento de las políticas públicas orientadas a las personas en situación de (mayor) dependencia. La falta de relieve de solidaridad familiar ejercida por las mujeres dentro de un modelo de cuidados basado en ésta nos sitúa en un escenario en el que un importante número de personas mayores deben y tendrán que acudir a otros sistemas de provisión de cuidados (Bofill-Poch, 2018). La soledad del paciente hospitalizado pone de manifiesto esta cuestión, así como la urgente necesidad de transformación.…”

Antibiotics in Catalan Primary Care: Prescription, Use and Remedies for a Crisis of Care

“…What resulted has been described as a “crisis of care” (Bofill-Poch 2018 ; Campillo-Poza 2018 , see also Pérez-Orozco 2006 ; Fraser 2016 ), wherein pressure from several directions squeezes a “key set of social capacities: those available for birthing and raising children, caring for friends and family members, maintaining households and broader communities, and sustaining connections more generally” (Fraser 2016 :99). In this article, we draw on the accounts of GPs, residents of Barcelona, and others to explore the relationship between this crisis, the broader historical, social, and political processes producing it, and the use of antibiotics in Catalan primary care.…”