Social support Family members as caregivers of the elderly living with dementia

In modernized societies, the running of the households of the elderly - as a result of the deterioration of health accompanying longevity, gradually or rapidly - is transferred to the actors of the support network that surrounds them. This support network has different structural and dynamic characteristics from society to society, and even from person to person, creating specific relationships between those most affected - the elderly person, the family caregivers, and those who provide services within the framework of the formal (institutionalized) relationship. Although there are many sociological and other explanations available for the interpretation of these support relationships, there are relatively few micro-sociological studies that focus on the interpretations of those involved. The present study, based on the convoy model of social support and care, sought to reveal in the framework of an empirical research what interpretation the concerned parties attributed to the changes and content of care. Using a qualitative method, our empirical research investigates how the caregivers, within the framework of the given context, interpret their role as caregivers during the emerging constraints, agreements, and collaborations that motivate their actions and thereby affect the well-being of the elderly. The results of the study prove that care, in the context of - personal, interpersonal, cultural, organizational, material, etc. - acquires its concrete meaning through the interpretations of the concerned parties, and by an act of attributing this meaning it influences the actions of the concerned parties.