Family care of older people: a matter of moral duty

Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to understand the profile of the Andalusian population in relation to the motivations that support family care for older people, considering multiple sociodemographic and classificatory variables, such as sex, age groups (18–29; 30–44; 45–59; 60 or older), caregiving experience, as well as their general opinions regarding care and decision-making related to it. Design/methodology/approach – A quantitative study is presented to know the opinion of the Andalusian population regarding the motivations that support the family care of older people. The sample comprised 774 participants (18 years or older). Findings – The results show that the majority of the Andalusian population believes that the reason why families care for older people is that it is considered amoral obligation, regardless of the resources available to them. Thus, two population profiles have been found to explain these beliefs. The first profile ismade up of current or former caregivers who are 60 years of age or older; and the second profile is made up of people who believe that the family should be primarily responsible for caregiving, who are or have been caregivers and who believe that in the future, the family trend in caregivingwill not bemodified. Originality/value – The value of this research lies in the implications of ‘‘family care’’ and ‘‘resources and motivations to care’’ studies today.