Caring for mum and dad: lesbian women negotiating family and navigating care

Price, Elizabeth

Abstract

This article reports on findings from a qualitative study that explored the experiences of twenty-one gay men and lesbian women who care, or cared, for a person with dementia in England.The aim of the study was to explore how a person's gay or lesbian sexuality might impact upon their experience of providing care in this context. Analysis of the data identified a number of consistent themes - carers' experiences of the early signs and symptoms of dementia, of receiving the diagnosis, becominga carer and their hopes and fears for the future in light of their care-giving experiences. The article reports on one theme that emerged from the wider study - the strategies lesbian carers used to negotiate the complex and contested category of the 'family' in the context of their care-giving experiences. The findings highlight the variety of ways in which families, of both biology and choice, were central to respondents' experiences of providing care for parents with dementia and of receiving support for themselves.

Citation

Price, E. (2011). Caring for mum and dad: lesbian women negotiating family and navigating care. The British journal of social work, 41(7), 1288-1303. https://doi.org/10.1093/bjsw/bcr015

• Acceptance Date: Feb 1, 2011
• Online Publication Date: Mar 7, 2011
• Publication Date: Oct 1, 2011
• Deposit Date: Nov 13, 2014
• Publicly Available Date: Nov 13, 2014
• Journal: British journal of social work
• Print ISSN: 0045-3102
• Electronic ISSN: 1468-263X
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 41
• Issue: 7
• Pages: 1288-1303
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/bjsw/bcr015
• Keywords: Lesbian; Dementia; Family; Caring
• Public URL: https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/466187
• Publisher URL: http://bjsw.oxfordjournals.org/content/41/7/1288
• Additional Information: This is a pre-copyedited, author-produced PDF of an article accepted for publication in British journal of social work following peer review. The version of record Br J Soc Work (2011) 41 (7): 1288-1303. doi: 10.1093/bjsw/bcr015 is available online at: http://bjsw.oxfordjournals.org/content/41/7/1288