The Challenges Male Carers Face in Hong Kong: Implications for Practice and Policy

ABSTRACT

This study examines the intersection of gender and class that shape the caregiving experience of male carers and aims to understand the challenges they face in accessing social support from within an intersectionality framework. A total of 20 male carers were interviewed for this study. The findings show that the male carers experienced various levels of stigmatisation and marginalisation in caring. The caring experience of male carers is socially constructed by their perceptions of masculinity and class location. Based on the findings of this study, a gender-based practice approach is suggested to improve the current social policy and service support arrangements for carers in Hong Kong.

IMPLICATIONS

• A critical analysis of men’s roles in caring and the impact of their caring roles highlights the importance of recognising the gendered nature of discourses in social work practice and welfare policy.

• A gender-based practice approach for social policy work is needed in order to meet the diverse needs of men, who are involved in caring.

本文探讨了男性看护者经历的性别与阶级的交集，并试图理解他们在交集环境中获得社会支持时遇到的困难。本文访谈了20位男性看护者，他们经历了不同层次的污名化和边缘化。他们的看护经历是由他们对男子汉的认识以及他们的阶级地位建构的。笔者建议采用一种基于性别的实践来改善香港目前有关看护者的社会政策以及服务支持的安排。

KEYWORDS:

• Gender
• Class
• Male Carers
• Gender-based Practice

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Additional information

Funding

The work described in this article was fully supported by a grant from the Research Grants Council, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (Project number CityU11610215).