In defence of care: The importance of care as a positive concept

Abstract

This article is about the implications of the different uses of the concept of care in the research and debate on home care. It can be read as a comment on the British debate, seen with Norwegian eyes, and from a starting point where care is a positively loaded concept. The article begins with a definition of care, in order to try to identify some core elements, and then proceeds to examine two main lines of attack on care in the British debate. A distinction between care as an ideal and as practice is introduced, and the article tries to demonstrate how the outcome of caring can be seen as a result both of political attitudes and of different forms of organisation. The article concludes by discussing why we need to save ‘care’ as a positive concept in the evaluation of formal systems providing care as a social service.

Beyond ‘person‐centred’ care: a new vision for gerontological nursing

“…Several authors contend that the relative failure of modern day health care to address the needs of people with chronic illness has arisen, in no small measure, from the promotion of an individualistic view of the world in which independence has become ‘lionized’ (Kivnick & Murray, 1997) and interdependence and communitarian values neglected (Clark, 1995; Evans, 1999; Mintz & Marosy, 2000). However, if personhood is best understood in the context of relationships (see above), it is important to recognize that the best relationships are reciprocal (MacDonald, 2002; Rønning, 2002). Such relationships are created and sustained in situations where all parties appreciate the need to achieve an appropriate balance between independence, dependence and interdependence (Rønning, 2002), and therefore valuing interdependence becomes a central concern (Clark, 2002).…”

“…However, if personhood is best understood in the context of relationships (see above), it is important to recognize that the best relationships are reciprocal (MacDonald, 2002; Rønning, 2002). Such relationships are created and sustained in situations where all parties appreciate the need to achieve an appropriate balance between independence, dependence and interdependence (Rønning, 2002), and therefore valuing interdependence becomes a central concern (Clark, 2002). Such considerations apply equally to nurse–patient relationships, which constitute the ‘essence’ of new nursing (McCormack, 2001, 2004).…”

Doing Care with Integrity and Emotional Sensibility—Reciprocal Encounters in Psychiatric Community Care of Older People with Mental Health Problems

“…Reciprocity can be defined as "the equality of perceived investments in and outcomes from a relationship relative to the persons' own internal standards" (Prichard, 1969: p. 180, referenced in Thomas & Rose, 2010. In fact, reciprocity is not only a necessity from the users' perspective, but also a prerequisite for care workers to feel satisfaction with their daily work (Thomas & Rose, 2010;Rönning, 2002). Rönning (2002) explains that definitions of the term care vary, in general along a scale in which one extreme is being vulnerable to those in power and dependent on the paternalistic whims of others.…”

“…In fact, reciprocity is not only a necessity from the users' perspective, but also a prerequisite for care workers to feel satisfaction with their daily work (Thomas & Rose, 2010;Rönning, 2002). Rönning (2002) explains that definitions of the term care vary, in general along a scale in which one extreme is being vulnerable to those in power and dependent on the paternalistic whims of others. This is particularly interesting considering that the caring sciences are female dominated.…”

“…What is needed in the context is thus to be aware of processes going on in the relationship between individuals, not just between professional and client. This kind of approach also helps to lighten the professional's own workload (Rönning, 2002). For example, one does not need to be anxious to do everything in a hurry; rather, it is important to affirm and summarise the other's perspective, whether dealing with a family member or an older person in need of assistance and support.…”