Older adults and care: reshaped family roles in societal change : A comparative study of Japan, South Korea, and Sweden

• Purpose: The aim is to explore how family relations are affected by societalchanges in relation to informal and formal caregiving and self-determinationof older adults.Design/methodology/approach: Care managers (CMs)/social workers (SWs)(N = 124) participated in a comparative vignette study including Japan, SouthKorea, and Sweden. Systems theory was used.Findings: Japanese CMs/SWs clearly describe their efforts to create networksin a relational way between formal and informal actors in the community. SouthKorean CMs/SWs balance between suggesting interventions to support dailylife at home or a move to a nursing home, often acknowledging the family as themain caregiver. In Sweden, CMs/SWs highlight the juridical element in meetingthe older adult and the interventions offered, and families primarily give socialsupport. Regarding self-determination, the Japanese priority is for CMs/SWsto harmonize within the family and the community. South Korean CMs/SWsexpress ambivalent attitudes to older adults’ capability for self-determination inthe intersection between formal and family care. Swedish CMs/SWs adhere tothe older adult’s self-determination, while acknowledging the role of the familyin persuading the older adult to accept interventions. The results suggest emergingdefamilialization in South Korea, while tendencies to refamilialization arenoticed in Japan and Sweden, albeit in different ways.Research limitations/implications: In translation, nuances may be lost. Afocus on changing families shows that country-specific details in care serviceshave been reduced. For future research, perspectives of “care” need to be studiedon different levels.Originality/value: Using one vignette in three countries with different welfareregimes, discussing changing views on families’, communities’ and societal caregivingis unique. This captures changes in policy, influencing re- and defamilialization.

Ämnesord

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Sociologi -- Socialt arbete (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Sociology -- Social Work (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

Care managers

familialism

Japan

older adults

South Korea

Sweden

vignettes

socialt arbete

Social Work

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