The roles of adult daughters in long-term care facilities - Alternative role manifestations

Our understanding of the roles of family members within long-term care sett ings remains limited Existing research conceptualizes the term "role" as a unidimensional concept and views the caregiving role as static. Employing a multidimensional conceptualization of roles, and guided by symbolic intera ctionism and the conceptual framework of the caregiving career, the purpose of this study was to gain a deeper and more comprehensive understanding of the roles of adult daughters in long-term care facilities from their persp ectives. Specific techniques of the grounded theory approach combined with active interviews and personal logs were used as the research design proced ures. Five caregiving role manifestations emerged in the women's stories: a ctive monitors, regular visitors, accepting relinquishers, unaccepting reli nquishers, and indirect supporters. Several factors explained differences i n the role manifestations such as the focus of the support, perceptions of the psychological presence of the parent, and the sense of obligation and p ressure to care. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved.