Beliefs and expectations of family and nursing home care among Mexican-origin caregivers

ABSTRACT

This study examined perceptions of family care, nursing homes, and expectations of future care among 85 Mexican-origin women caregivers, some who lived in Mexico City and some who lived in East Los Angeles, California (East LA). Attitudes of Mexican-born women—living in Mexico City and in East LA—were more similar to each other than those of U.S.-born women. Most caregivers reported a preference for family care and had negative views of institutional care. In addition, despite the negative views about nursing homes, some caregivers expressed a willingness to seek nursing-home care for themselves so as to avoid burdening their children in the future. Findings lend support to the persistence of Mexican cultural values in this sample of Mexican-origin caregiving women, regardless of where they were born.

KEYWORDS:

• Aging
• caregivers
• culture
• immigrants

Acknowledgments

We thank research assistants Erika S. Farkas, Esmeralda Pulido, Monica Ayala-Rivera, and Erica Lee Barrios for their contributions to this study.

Funding

Financial support for this research was provided by the Organization of American States PRA Fellowship no. F56870; the U.S. Department of State Fulbright U.S. Student Program and the Mexico—United States Educational Commission for Educational and Cultural Exchange; the Aetna Foundation Grant 20072361; the Drew/UCLA Project Export Grant 2P20MD000182-06; the UCLA Center for Health Improvement for Minority Elderly Grant P30AG021684; the National Institutes of Health Grant 1K01AG033122; and, the National Science Foundation Grant DGE 0965820.0965820.