Care Giving for the Mexican Elderly

The challenge America now faces is the number of people reaching retirement will double in number by 2030, and the U.S. population will increase almost 20 percent ("Our Aging Nation," 2015). The goal is for the elderly to maintain and live with independence and dignity, as well as, provide a wide range of professional health and social service expertise, home care, and residential support and services that will be needed ("Our Aging Nation," 2015). Since the number of caregivers needed for this population will not be able to meet the demands other resolutions are considered necessary.

Social organization based on premises of family values, respect to older generations and deference to healthcare staff, physicians and nurses (Grady, 2014). Time concept is considered in this group and many activities can be performed at the same time. Priority, in this case, is given to an activity that person can be related to. Knowing this, healthcare providers should consider spending slightly more time with this patient. Environmental factors play and definitive role in close-knit Hispanic/Latino communities. Social influences can change and influence health related behaviors, and major domain is immediate and extended family (Larsen, Pekmezi, Marquez, Benitez, & Marcus,

In the U.S, one in four will be aged 60 years and older by 2050 (U.S. Census Bureau). This represents an overwhelming number of people who will either be in the caretaker role or be the ROC. Like today, most of the care will be provided by informal unpaid caregivers. The number of informal unpaid caregivers is expected to rise from 20 million in 2000 to 37 million in 2050 (Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation [ASPE], 2003). Because of the burden of care giving, many caregivers will experience depression, poor health and quality of life (Etters, Goodall, & Harrison, 2008). Their well-being is an important public health concern.

Ehrenreich demonstrates how men have suffered from being the family breadwinner. Men are less healthy than women, from both physical and mental standpoints, because they bare the majority of economic responsibility for their family. Despite the growing number of women who have joined the labor force in recent years, men are paid almost forty percent more, which makes their salary more valuable to a family than a woman's. A family must retain a man as their beast of burden because America places increasing emphasis on the value of its citizens through their material possessions. This makes many men feel that their role unduly taxes their resources. "Perhaps men will live longer (and more enjoyable lives) in America when women carry more of the burden of the battle with the world, instead of being a burden themselves" (102).

This study focused on what the Mexican American feel about taking care of their elders at home and the affects it has on them. Also, the aim for this study was to gather information about the culture of this group so it can be used instrument to help this particular group. This was a quantitative study. In this study many different methods were used to gather their information. 193

Adult children caring for their aging parent or grandparent provide the majority of informal support. This is due in part because grandmothers “raise their grandchildren to believe in lifetime reciprocity”, grandchildren often feel an obligation to care for their aging family members (Novak, 2012, p.191). Furthermore, a heavy reliance on family support may be due to a lack of trust exists towards formal health care programs, a lack of access, or a general lack of

Grandparents are also required to sometimes take care of their grandchildren. When parents become too old to live by himself they tend to move in with their children or their children move in with them, they are never allowed to go to a nursing home, unless it is there last option and in need of medication or medical attention. The life expectancy for an elderly mexican person is from seventy six to one hundred years old.

The paper is based on an interview with a healthy, non-institutionalized elderly Latino man in relation to the current nursing techniques. The focus on this individual helps to investigate the relationship between the race/ethnicity, psychosocial characteristics and the United States nursing home utilization projections. Notably, focusing on the individual aged 65 years and above helps analyze the characteristics of the baby boom generation in its entrance to retirement age. Consideration of this group in the field of nursing helps to promote accommodation of this group in the general American society. Notably, the population of people aged 65 years and above, according to the statistical projection, is expected to increase from 40.2 million as per 2010 statistical findings to 72.1 million in 2030. The rapid population growth rate means that the number of people in need of health services assistance will increase over the years (Aranda & Bob, 1997).

Informal care is unpaid care that may be provided by family, friends or neighbours. (Brodsky, Habib and Hirschfield, 2003) state “Informal Care is by far the dominant form of care throughout the world.” This essay will state how important informal care is in modern society and how this has affected current social policy. It will define what the differences are between informal and formal care, what exactly informal care consists of, what a carer is, include statistics about informal carers, explain what the mixed economy of care means and conclude the importance of informal care in society.

Women are sometimes more nurturing than some men when it comes to taking care of their family members or children. When a woman becomes pregnant they receive a maternity leave which also puts a hold on their income, making it easier for the man of the household to have a higher paying job (Joan Acker, 1989). Another example, when a child of a family gets sick most of the time the woman is the one to leave work early and stay home with the child. Some job sites have paid maternity leave but then many do not. Women have greater recourse to part-time work so they can combine work and family responsibilities (Joan Acker, 1989). During the older days, women were not allowed to enter professions such as medicine or law, married women had no property rights, they were not allowed to vote, married women were not even present in the eyes of the law. From then to now a lot has changed but women still are not

Latinos, collectively the nation's largest minority group, vary substantially in terms of socioeconomic and legal status, their country of origin and the extent of ongoing contact with that country, their region of residence within the United States, their generation status and levels of acculturation, and psychosocial factors (Elder, Ayala, Parra-Medina, & Talavera, 2009). Due to these various issues navigating the health care system can prove difficult especially when it comes to the end of life care, it is prevalent in the Mexican culture for the elderly to be taken care of by their younger family members such as their children. However, if they have a major illness or the family simply don’t have the ability to take care of them anymore

In Mexico, the family remains the most important social institution. Such, is considered to be the main support and protection system among all for Mexicans. Primary ties are structured through blood descent, which comes from the mother’s and father’s sides. Therefore, every person is a member of two family lines. In addition, the “Parentela” or extended family usually includes all the descendants from the grandparents. For this reason, it is normal for a person to have a numerous extended family. According to the CDC, Mexico has traditionally been home to the patriarchal family structure. The father usually works and provides for the family while mothers take care of the household. However, the number of

Having a strong support system plays a role in the survival and success of this community. There is a lack of formal support for the Hispanic community, that is why they rely heavily on their informal support system. The formal support that is available is not culturally relevant to the Hispanic community. Barrio (2000) states, “When the objective is to design and provide services relevant to a particular culture, this process also appraises the fit between the service system and the unique ethnocultural qualities, needs, and expectations of the client system to be served” (p. 880). There is no such thing as a “one size fits all” formal support systems. We need to tailor to the specific community, in this case the Hispanic community, to meet their needs and expectations. Delgado and Humm-Delgado state that we as Human services workers must not diminish the importance of natural support systems, but we cannot use that as an excuse to say that they can support each other and do not need our support (p. 88). We must be client-centered and focus on what that particular individual needs, despite how strong their natural support is. Natural support systems are limited, they cannot provide essential medical assistance, stable income, and mental health services. We must utilize their support system to help us as Human services workers to better serve

The Sanchez family is a large family that is in need of social services. Each family member has their own needs that are influenced by their culture and environment. It’s important to understand a person or system, their environment, and how they interact; the following examines the

This is because of the very demanding variations of stereotypical roles women and men play. 56.2 percent of adult women have reached at least a secondary level of education. In contrast, 67.0 percent of male counterparts have reached at least a secondary level of education. Furthermore, women have the capability to bear children which can increase death rates. For every 100,000 live births, 68 women die from pregnancy-related causes. A profound statist of adolescent birth rate is at a whopping 49.1 births per 1,000 women of ages 15-19. Female participation in the labor market is 65.7 percent compared to 82.6 for