Intergenerational ambivalence among families with a migrant background caring for older relatives

Introduction

Europe's population is aging and becoming more ethnically diverse due to migration. The growing number of aging migrants has raised concerns about their future eldercare arrangements and their implications for both families and formal care services. Many older non-European migrants prefer family care over formal, long-term care facilities.

Objective

The objective of this study is to explore the family caregiving arrangements for older Pakistani migrants from the Ahmadiyya community in Norway.

Methods

This exploratory qualitative study recruited 19 women between 25 and 62 years of age who were family caregivers for older adults. Semi-structured individual (18) and group interviews (2) were conducted in Urdu and English.

Findings

Our analysis reveals four main themes: the need to share caring responsibilities with family, balancing personal relations in managing care, lack of privacy while caregiving, and feelings of inadequacy.

Conclusion

While rotational care for older family members offers benefits such as the sharing of responsibilities and more privacy, reliance solely on family care arrangements led to greater ambivalence among family caregivers and provoked doubts about the ability to continue caring for older relatives in the future. Our findings highlight the urgent need to establish modes of collaboration with formal care systems to ensure the support and well-being of both older adults and their family caregivers.