Care in the context of marriages in later life: an analysis of experiences and perceptions.

This study is concerned with care in the context of later life marriages. Taking a qualitative
approach, it explores how forty spouses experienced and made sense of care within their
marriages. From the data that these spouses provide in joint interviews, it identifies how they
supported and cared for each other and how they sought to maintain their relationships and
life styles in the face of disability. It also reflects on how within their care experiences these
men and women strove'to preserve not only their spousal roles and identities but also their
autonomy as couples. Thus it emphasises that they experienced and made sense of care both
as individuals and as couples and how this duality resulted in care practices and constructs
that supported and challenged gendered care expectations.
This study also looks at the couples' support networks, in particular what care the spouses
were prepared to accept from whom and teases out their reasons for their choices. This
reveals that they understood care in terms oftheir relationships; it was about being a spouse, a
relative, a friend and a neighbour. Hence, their acceptance and provision of care were
underpilUJ.ed by their values and moral principles, and in particular reciprocity and fairness,
that structured their personal and formal relationships. Within this context the use of services
offered them a morally acceptable means ofmeeting their care needs and protecting their
informal relationships.
This study also gathered interview data from fifteen home service providers to examine how
they experienced supporting older couples and how they understood the use ofthis service by
such service users. From a comparison ofthese data with how the spouses perceived serviceuse,
significant implications for social policy and care practice emerge.