Biomaterial Database

Always one step behind: husbands' narratives about taking care of their demented wives. 2004

Tapio Kirsi, and Antti Hervonen, and Marja Jylhä

University of Tampere, Finland. tapio.kirsi@uta.fi

Based on an analysis of extracts from 11 free-form written texts and 13 focused interviews with Finnish husbands who had given care to their demented wives, this study was aimed at finding out how husbands signify their action as spousal caregivers. The data were approached qualitatively from a social constructionistic point of view. Husbands' written material described their action of caregiving mainly in a passive voice that echoed duty and responsive agency. Analysis of the interview talk revealed a wider spectrum of voices and more agentive talk about caregiving. The results of the study challenge interpretations of men as either ineffective or capable caregivers and highlight, instead, the contextual nature of the way that men construct their agencies, depending upon the purposes and audiences of their narration.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D007398	Interpersonal Relations	The reciprocal interaction of two or more persons.	Social Relationships,Husband-Wife Communication,Partner Communication,Communication, Husband-Wife,Communication, Partner,Husband Wife Communication,Husband-Wife Communications,Interpersonal Relation,Partner Communications,Relation, Interpersonal,Relationship, Social,Social Relationship
D007407	Interviews as Topic	Works about conversations with an individual or individuals held in order to obtain information about their background and other personal biographical data, their attitudes and opinions, etc. It includes works about school admission or job interviews.	Group Interviews,Interviewers,Interviews, Telephone,Oral History as Topic,Group Interview,Interview, Group,Interview, Telephone,Interviewer,Interviews, Group,Telephone Interview,Telephone Interviews
D008297	Male		Males
D008571	Men	Human males as cultural, psychological, sociological, political, and economic entities.	Boys
D003704	Dementia	An acquired organic mental disorder with loss of intellectual abilities of sufficient severity to interfere with social or occupational functioning. The dysfunction is multifaceted and involves memory, behavior, personality, judgment, attention, spatial relations, language, abstract thought, and other executive functions. The intellectual decline is usually progressive, and initially spares the level of consciousness.	Senile Paranoid Dementia,Amentia,Familial Dementia,Amentias,Dementia, Familial,Dementias,Dementias, Familial,Dementias, Senile Paranoid,Familial Dementias,Paranoid Dementia, Senile,Paranoid Dementias, Senile,Senile Paranoid Dementias
D005192	Family Health	The health status of the family as a unit including the impact of the health of one member of the family on the family as a unit and on individual family members; also, the impact of family organization or disorganization on the health status of its members.	Health, Family
D005260	Female		Females
D005387	Finland	A country in northern Europe, bordering the Baltic Sea, Gulf of Bothnia, and Gulf of Finland, between Sweden and Russia. The capital is Helsinki.	Aland Islands,Åland Islands
D006801	Humans	Members of the species Homo sapiens.	Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D000203	Activities of Daily Living	The performance of the basic activities of self care, such as dressing, ambulation, or eating.	ADL,Chronic Limitation of Activity,Limitation of Activity, Chronic,Activities, Daily Living,Activity, Daily Living,Daily Living Activities,Daily Living Activity,Living Activities, Daily,Living Activity, Daily