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CULTURE AND CAREGIVING FOR OLDER ADULTS
IN INDIA: A QUALITATIVE STUDY
B.D. Capistrant1, S. Ghosh2,3, G. Friedemann-Sanchez1,
P. Kowal4, A. Mathur5, 1. Division of Epidemiology &
Community Health, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis,
Minnesota, 2. Tata Institute of Social Science, Mumbai,
Maharashtra, India, 3. Brandeis University, Waltham,
Massachusetts, 4. World Health Organization, Geneva,
Switzerland, 5. Asian Centre for Medical Education,
Research and Innovation, Jodhpur, Rajasthan, India
Family members have long provided care for aging and
older adults at home, especially in low and middle-income
countries. However, many of the deep-rooted cultural cornerstones of caregiving have not been explored in the context of
India’s current myriad rapid demographic and epidemiologic
transitions. 30 semi-structured, in-depth qualitative interviews of older adult caregivers (aged 60+) were conducted in
Jodhpur, the 2nd largest city in Rajasthan state. Caregivers
were identified through key informants and sampled purposively, stratified by type of care needed (cognitive impairment/dementia, physical health condition, healthy/”normal”
aging). Analysis was both deductive (based on care demands,
caregiving role and responsibilities) and inductive (based on
new themes that emerged from the interviews and not originally included in the guide). Common cultural explanations
for taking on care roles included feeling compelled to care for
one’s family, akin to but distinct from filial piety (respect for
elders and parents). Cultural gender norms remained important, but not sole motivators of care expectations. A key
reward for care providers was the hope that providing their
loved one care would result in this being their last re-birth,
or offer them a better birth or life in the next life. Caregiving
appeared distinct from seva, a Hindu concept of selfless service. Cultural explanations for caregiving in this sample of
Indian caregivers included concepts not typically seen in
either Western or East Asian caregiving research. There may
be different and greater subjective rewards of caregiving than
typically included in Western caregiving stress models.
PRODUCTIVE ACTIVITY PROFILES AND DEPRESSIVE
SYMPTOMS OF URBAN CHINESE ELDERLY:
EVIDENCE FROM A NATIONAL SURVEY
H. Liu1, V. Lou1,2, 1. Social work and Social Administration,
The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China, 2. Sau
Po Center on Ageing, The University of Hong Kong, Hong
Kong, China
Objectives: This study aims to identify latent clusters of
productive activity among urban Chinese elderly by considering multiple productive activities simultaneously. Once
clusters were identified, we further explore the effect of
engaging in these clusters on depressive symptoms of these
elderly, controlling for individual characteristics. Methods:
We present second analyses of data from the 2011 national
baseline survey of China Health and Retirement Longitudinal
Study (CHARLS). Elderly aged 55 and over were included
(N = 4,417). Latent class analysis (LCA) was used to empirically identify the productive clusters through estimating 6
productive activities (e.g., working, grandchildren care,
parental care, spousal care, informal help, and civic participation). Analysis of covariance was used to examine the effects
of engaging in different clusters on depressive symptoms
The Gerontological Society of America
after controlling for individual characteristics. Results: A
four-class model was revealed as best fitting the data, with
interpretable set of classes as: Low/Spousal Carers, Super
Helpers, Workers, and Grandchild Carers. Further, a significant effect of activity clusters on depressive symptoms has
been found, after controlling for individual characteristics
of importance. ‘Workers’ and ‘Super Helpers’ were more
likely to have less depressive symptoms as compared to Low/
Spousal Carers and Grandchild Carers. Conclusions: Our
individual-oriented approach captured the patterned ways
of productive activities of urban Chinese elderly. Through
employing clusters to predict depression, we further identified vulnerable groups of individuals caring for their spouses
or grandchildren, as well as benefitted groups of individuals
engaging in multiple activities concurrently, which may further confirm the role accumulation perspective.
ANALYSIS OF PERSONAL NETWORKS OF THE
ELDERLY IN JAPAN
S. Watanabe3, H. Shibutani1, H. Yoshimura2, A. Kokubo1, 1.
Aomori University, Aomori City, Japan, 2. Nara University,
Nara City, Japan, 3. Akita Prefectural University, Akita City,
Japan
Looking at the types of relationships maintained by the
elderly, using the Socioemotional Selectivity Theory, shows
that the number of relationships held by individuals outside
their family circle, greatly decreases while only relationships
with immediate family members, are left as we age. The purpose of our research was to identify the important variables
which influence the quality and characteristics of human
relationships among the elderly. We formalized human relations as interpersonal networks which influence one’s daily
life satisfaction and conducted a survey to analyze the data
gained about these networks using Exponential Random
Graph Models (ERGM hereafter). Our survey was designed
to assess the relationship networks which the elderly are
connected to and which give them the greatest support. The
survey was carried out from March 13 - 30, 2014. We sampled 275 elderly people living in Aomori City. The surveyed
items included: age, gender, educational level, marital status,
restrictions on free time, money, physical mobility, personal
skills, the degree of satisfaction with their relationships, the
amount of time necessary to travel to meet others, the degree
of similarities and length in relationships, supports, and the
strength of intimate ties. ERGM is a statistical method which
compares the characteristics of the network against a random graph. Through ERGM analysis, we were able to show
which items or combination of items are important variables
when building relationships. The results show that homophily also effects elderly people, leading to a tendency to make
relationships with people who portray similarities or are
almost the same age as themselves.