Spousal caregiving in later life: An objective and subjective career

Abstract

During later life, as a consequence of the deteriorating health of husbands, numerous women experience a period of spousal caregiving that can be considered a new phase in their caregiving career. This phase, which often precedes widowhood, is one that has been relatively neglected by researchers. In this article, the concepts of objective and subjective career (Hughes, 1971) are used as orienting concepts to examine the phenomenon of spousal caregiving in later life. Objectively, the caregiving career is seen as an age-related, gender-specific, and role-contingent phenomenon. The subjective career is seen as the meaning and purposes attributed to complex and extensive responsibilities and activities of caregiving and their potentially serious consequences for health and well-being.