Care Challenges: gender and dependent old age

Abstract

The aim of this project is to provide elements for reflection on the new configurations that the issue of elderly care has acquired in the contemporary world, particularly in Brazil. To this end and based on a qualitative methodology a variety of textual and ethnographic materials are examined : (1) the caregiver profession, particularly the debates around public policy and the bill aimed at regulating the profession of elderly caregiver; (2) the ethics of care, analyzing media production on caregivers, on the vicissitudes of good care and on voluntarism and commodification of elderlycare; (3) new initiatives to provide quality of life of functionally dependent elderly or to improve caregivers well being as for example professional courses for careers, employment agencies and social networks of solidarity and support to the victims or potential victims of care vicissitudes. The hypothesis that organizes the research is that one of the hardest barriers to be broken down is theassumption that the elderly want to be taken care of by their family. This assumption, typical of countries with few social policies, tends to limit state actions to stimulate the family to take care of their elderly. The research attempt is to understand how families and governmental or nongovernmental organizations react to these policies and compare the Brazilian case with othernational contexts. (AU)