Rural family carer health work and ageing at home in New Brunswick, Canada

Abstract

Drawing together key developments in feminist sociology, emotional geographies and critical rural gerontology, we address recent calls within research and policy to continue to build our understanding of the invisible work involved in navigating ageing and care at home in rural contexts. We do so by investigating taken for granted assumptions about rurality and health work in familial care as well as the home as a complex care environment. We use the example of family carers of rural adults in New Brunswick, Canada to shed light on the invisible health work required to maintain the home as a site of care and manage disrupted meanings of home space and family relationships. Findings suggest that structural forces like government policies and income inequality create and perpetuate new forms of health work for family carers. Rural insights into advancing a critical perspective on gendered, familial care providers and their relationship to the care environment are discussed in order to better understand the impact of imposing long-term care policy on domestic relationships and places.