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The emotional overlay: Older person and carer perspectives on negotiating aging and care in rural Ontario

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  • Herron, Rachel V.
  • Skinner, Mark W.

Abstract

This paper extends the burgeoning interest in emotion, health and place by investigating the emotionally complex experiences of aging and care in rural settings. Featuring a thematic analysis of 44 semi-structured interviews and two focus groups with older people and their carers in rural Ontario (Canada) we examine the importance and implications of emotions within and across multiple scales at which care relationships, expectations and responsibilities are negotiated. With the aim of broadening the discussion surrounding geographical dimensions of ethical care, our approach draws on feminist care ethics to understand the multifaceted ways in which emotions shape and are shaped by experiences of aging and caring at the interpersonal, household and community scales. The findings reveal how emotions are central, yet often-overlooked and even hidden within care relationships among older rural people and their carers. We argue that ethical care is contingent on recognizing and valuing the situated emotions involved in doing care work, sustaining care relationships and asking for care. In doing so, we demonstrate how qualitative research on the emotional geographies of care can contribute to the development of informed policies that are contextually sensitive and, ultimately, have the potential to build more ethical rural conditions of care.

Suggested Citation

  • Herron, Rachel V. & Skinner, Mark W., 2013. "The emotional overlay: Older person and carer perspectives on negotiating aging and care in rural Ontario," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 91(C), pages 186-193.
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:91:y:2013:i:c:p:186-193
    DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2012.08.037
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Davidson, Joyce, 2007. "Caring and daring to complain: An examination of UK national phobics society members' perception of primary care," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 65(3), pages 560-571, August.
    2. Skinner, Mark W. & Yantzi, Nicole M. & Rosenberg, Mark W., 2009. "Neither rain nor hail nor sleet nor snow: Provider perspectives on the challenges of weather for home and community care," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 68(4), pages 682-688, February.
    3. Lynn A Staeheli & Michael Brown, 2003. "Where Has Welfare Gone? Introductory Remarks on the Geographies of Care and Welfare," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 35(5), pages 771-777, May.
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Poulin, Laura I.L. & Skinner, Mark W. & Hanlon, Neil, 2020. "Rural gerontological health: Emergent questions for research, policy and practice," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 258(C).
    2. Giesbrecht, Melissa & Stajduhar, Kelli I. & Cloutier, Denise & Dujela, Carren, 2021. "“We are to be like machines…fill the bed before it gets cold”: Exploring the emotional geographies of healthcare providers caring for dying residents in long-term care facilities," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 272(C).
    3. Leane, Máire, 2019. "Siblings caring for siblings with Intellectual Disabilities: Naming and negotiating emotional tensions," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 230(C), pages 264-270.
    4. Poulin, Laura I.L. & Skinner, Mark W., 2022. "Emotional geographies of loss in later life: An intimate account of rural older peoples' last move," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 301(C).

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