From “Employer-Employee” to “Family of Choice”: The Development of the Relationship between Philippine Worker Immigrants and Elderly Care Recipients

Pnina Ron

School of Social Work, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel.

DOI: 10.4236/aar.2015.42007                

Abstract

The current study adds to the pool of findings regarding experiences of female Philippine work immigrants employed in elderly caregiving in Israel, as they cope with their role as caregivers. Based on an analysis of the qualitative interviews with 27 Philippine women, three themes emerged. The first is the manner in which these caregivers perceive the treatment and care they give their elderly employers, taking into account the initial stage of the professional relationship, the various types of support, and the employer-employee interactions. The second theme deals with the manner in which these caregivers perceive their role once the relationship with the elderly care recipient is established and the employer’s needs and preferences become familiar; that is, once there is a clear caregiver-client relationship. The third theme deals with the manner in which the caregivers perceive their relationship with their elderly employers and with the employers’ family members, and the way they believe their employer and family perceive their role as caregivers. This stage of the relationship they define as “family of choice”. The combination of the three themes presents a comprehensive picture of positive change in terms of the caregivers perception of their role, and a shift in the manner in which they perceive their employers: from a “source of income” to “parent”.

Keywords

Work Immigrants, Paid Round-the-Clock, Caregivers for the Elderly

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

References

[1]	Ellman, M. and Laacher, S. (2003) Migrants Workers in Israel—A Contemporary Form of Slavery. The Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Networks and the International Federation for Human Rights, Copenhagen and Paris.
[2]	Browne, C., Braun, K. and Arnsberger, P. (2007) Filipinas as Residential Long-Term-Care Providers: Influence of Cultural Values, Structure Inequality, and Immigrants Status on Career Choice. Journal of Gerontological Social Work, 48, 439-457. http://dx.doi.org/10.1300/J083v48n03_10
[3]	Tyner, J.A. (2002) Geographics of Identity: The Migrant Experiences of Filipines in Northeast Ohio. Asia Pacific Viewpoint, 43, 311-326. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1467-8373.00179
[4]	Semyonov, M. and Gorodzeisky, A. (2005) Labor Migration, Remittances and Household Income: A Comparison between Filipino and Filipina Overseas Workers. IMR, 39, 45-68.
[5]	Lim, J.Y. (2000) The East Asian Crisis and Child Labor in the Philippines. University of the Philippines, Quezon City.
[6]	Agbayani-Siewert, P. (1994) Assumptions of Asian of Asian American Similarity: The Case of Filipino and Chinese American Students. Social Work, 49, 213-234.
[7]	Lincoln, Y.S. and Guba, E.G. (1985) Naturalistic Inquiry. Sage, Beverly Hills, 67-91.
[8]	Shkedi, A. (2005) Multiple Case Narratives. John Benjamins, Amsterdam/Philadelphia. http://dx.doi.org/10.1075/sin.7
[9]	Van Manen, M. (1997) Researching Lived Experiences. The Althouse Press, London, 11-25.
[10]	Padgett, D. (1998) Qualitative Methods in Social Work Research: Challenges and Rewards. Sage, Thousand Oaks.
[11]	Weiss, R.S. (1994) Learning from Strangers: The Art and Methods of Qualitative Interview Studies. The Free Press, New York.
[12]	Patton, M.Q. (2002) Qualitative Research and Evaluation Methods. 3rd Edition, Sage, Thousand Oaks.
[13]	Kvale, S. (1996) Interviews: An Introduction to Qualitative Research Interviewing. Sage, Thousand Oaks.
[14]	Piercy, K.W. (2000) When It Is More than a Job: Close Relationships between Home Health Aides and Older Clients. Journal of Aging and Health, 12, 362-387. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/089826430001200305
[15]	Karner, T.X. (1998) Professional Caring: Homecare Workers as Fictive Kin. Journal of Aging Studies, 12, 69-82. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0890-4065(98)90021-4
[16]	Moustakas, C. (1994) Phenomenological Research Methods. Sage, Thousand Oaks.
[17]	Strauss, A.L. (1987) Qualitative Analysis for Social Scientists. Cambridge University Press, New York. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511557842
[18]	Strauss, A.L. and Corbin, J. (1998) Basics of Qualitative Research: Techniques and Procedures for Developing Grounded Theory. 2nd Edition, Sage, Thousand Oaks.
[19]	Angen, M.J. (2000) Evaluating Interpretive Inquiry: Reviewing the Validity Debate and Opening the Dialogue. Qualitative Health Research, 10, 378-395. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/104973230001000308
[20]	Ayalon, L. (2009) Family and Family-Like Interactions in Households with Round-the-Clock Paid Foreign Carers in Israel. Ageing & Society, 29, 22-30. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0144686X09008393