A half life: Women caregivers of older disabled relatives

This paper explores the impact of caring on caregivers' life style and heal th. Interviews were carried out with women caregivers over 50 years old. Tr anscripts from the interview are analyzed through a detailed discourse anal ysis within an ethnomethodological framework showing how the caring tasks a re constructed in the interaction as a women's duty, inscribed in a gendere d moral order. A difference is noticeable between family caregivers who des cribe the caring tasks as the cause of intense stress, physical and psychol ogical problems and voluntary or paid caregivers who see caring as a source of satisfaction and well being.