© British Association of Social Workers
Caring for the Elderly Widowed—the Burden on their Supporters
Ann Bowling is Senior Research Fellow (Medical Sociologist) at the Centre for the Study of Primary Care, North East Thames Regional Health Authority. Her research on which the present paper is based was carried out whilst the author was Research Officer at the Institute for Social Studies in Medical Care, London.
Summary
This paper examines how caring for elderly widowed people affects the lives of their ‘familiars’. This study is part of a larger national study on widowhood in old age carried out by the Institute for Social Studies in Medical Care. The familiars tended to be the children of the widowed, particularly their daughters. Children of the widowed, again often daughters, were more likely than other familiars to suffer life restrictions before and after the death because of the care and support given to the deceased and the surviving spouse. In addition to their caring role familiars were often committed to full or part-time employment and most also had their own families to support. The care they provide for the elderly is not always without cost. The contribution towards community care given by such informal helpers deserves greater recognition and the social, psychological and financial costs thus incurred merit greater relief. As the help is needed by a minority only of such informal carers, adoption of a policy relieving them as far as possible of the costs they incur, would not involve intolerable financial outlays.