Abstract
Objectives: to determine how the immigration phenomenon influences the response to informal care in the domestic level through the caregiver activity, and to analyze the cultural dialogue established in the residential area of Murcia (Spain). Method: This is an ethnographic study, conducted in 26 informal immigrant caregivers. As data collection instruments, semi-structured interviews and participant observation were employed. MAXQDA-2 assisted content analysis was also applied. Results: the immigrant caregiver is the main consumer of traditional medicines, extending these health practices to her home group. A cultural dialogue is established on informal care, characterized by interculturalism and mutual adaptation. Conclusions: cultural hybridization was identified for informal caregivers, immigrants and cultural integration: new health care practices and cultural behaviors in informal systems. There is a transformation in the roles of family members attended in domestic environments, increasing quality of life and self care. They represent an alternative to medicalization, promoting self-management of health.
Highlights
The experiences of health and human disease is a process that can be understood as a continuum
The immigrant caregiver works in an internal system, and is the only person who does not belong to the family group
A cultural dialogue is established in informal care, characterized by interculturalism and mutual adaptation
Summary
The experiences of health and human disease is a process that can be understood as a continuum. Until the moment the health care contact begins, the informal care systems and processes for self care thrive and develop themselves. Both of them are essential, simultaneous professional care is demanded. In Europe, the aging population, increasing life expectancy and the growing number of people with chronic and disabling diseases directly affect the demand for informal care at home, but it has affected the structures and forms of family life. The availability of caregivers is seriously threatened by: the progressive incorporation of women in the labor market, the mobility of family members and the smaller size of houses[1]. Aging and the incorporation of women in the labor market are contemporary to an important migratory phenomenon in Spain. The result is the evolution of informal care systems, undertaken largely by immigrant women, who take on the role of informal caregiver for the family, playing a traditional scheme of care
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