The good daughters: Acculturation and caregiving among Mexican-American women

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Abstract

This study explores the dynamics of informal care of the elderly in Mexican-American families. Quantitative and qualitative data drawn from interviews with caregivers are presented, which illustrate how acculturation affects the caregiving experience itself and its consequences in terms of stress, burden, rewards, and overall satisfaction. The burden of caregiving for both highly acculturated and less acculturated caregivers was substantial, but there were dramatic differences between the groups in levels of satisfaction. Contrary to expectations, the less acculturated caregivers experienced greater stress, burden, and significantly lower satisfaction even though they were more clearly fulfilling role obligations and they had more family members available to assist with caregiving. Implications for policy and practice are discussed.

Introduction

Although Hispanics constitute the fastest growing segment of the elderly population, relatively little has been documented about their approach to providing long-term care for their elderly. While there is a substantial literature on informal care of the elderly, the data have been primarily from white, middle-class populations. Recently, there has been an increased interest in aging within minority populations Barker et al., 1998, Moody, 1998, Stanford & Schmidt, 1996, Taylor et al., 1990, White-Means & Thornton, 1996, Zsembik, 1996, though more of it has been focused on minority elders than on caregivers Fulton et al., 1995, Gibson, 1991, Winkleby et al., 1996.

One reason for the specific neglect of Hispanic elders has been the relatively small size of the population. Due to high fertility rates and recency of immigration, the Hispanic population is relatively young compared to both Anglos and African Americans Hayes-Bautista et al., 1984, Markides, 1989. However, this situation is rapidly changing. The U.S. Census Bureau estimates that by the middle of the 21st century, the number of elderly Hispanics will have grown from less than 4% of the total population of the elderly in 1990 to 15%—or from an estimated 1.9 million in 2000 to 12 million in 2050 (Tauber, 1993).

Although Hispanics share a common language, they come from diverse cultural backgrounds. Of these groups, Mexican-Americans are the largest, constituting 64% of the Hispanic population (Hooyman & Kiyak, 1993). One of the primary sources of diversity within this population is the degree of acculturation which is highly correlated with recency of arrival in the US.

This study attempts to fill in a portion of the research gap by exploring the dynamics of caregiving in Mexican-American families with a particular focus on the differences between highly acculturated and less acculturated caregivers. Qualitative data from structured interviews of primary caregivers are used to describe typical caregiving experiences including stress, burden, and satisfaction, and to assess the impact of acculturation on those experiences.

Section snippets

Dynamics of caregiving

The vast majority of all elders requiring care rely exclusively on family and friends for support. Furthermore, women comprise the majority of both the elder and the caregiver population (Dwyer & Coward, 1992). Women caregivers often have multiple demands on their time and energy from children, spouse, and a parent or parents. They are also likely to be employed outside the home, at least part-time, and to assume primary responsibility for domestic chores.

Most of the literature on informal care

Methodology

This study examines these tentative expectations about the impact of acculturation on caregiving in an exploratory way through interviews with Mexican-American caregivers. Both structured and open-ended interview questions were used to probe the typical dimensions of caregiving, and, also, to allow respondents to describe their experiences using their own terms. The participants in the study were all drawn from a mid-sized city in Southern California. Over half of the city's residents are

Profile of caregivers and elders

The 39 respondents who both qualified for and agreed to participate in this study were divided into two groups according to the degree of acculturation, using the Cuellar eight-item acculturation scale (Cuellar, Harris, & Jasso, 1980). The differences in level of acculturation between the two groups were dramatic and mirrored language preference. For this reason, the terms “English-speaking” and “Spanish-speaking” are sometimes used as proxies for high and low levels of acculturation,

Implications for practitioners

These data illustrate what Purdy and Arguello (1992) call the “dysfunctional side-effects” of sole reliance on informal familial care for the elderly. While beneficial to society at large, it can be quite detrimental to the economic, physical, and social health of the care-providing family.

One of the Spanish-speaking respondents in this study referred to the difficulties of caring for the elderly in the US as “a problem nobody wants to solve.” In fact, with increased longevity and the aging of

Conclusion

This exploratory study offers a contribution to the developing literature on informal care of the elderly in minority populations by describing the experiences of Hispanic caregivers. In particular, it highlights the impact of acculturation, an important dimension of diversity within that population. The differences between the more and less acculturated caregivers identified in this study suggest avenues for further research. Future research, for example, might probe in a more sophisticated

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