Transnational caregiving in mexican families
Author: RAMIREZ, MARIA G, pikysmorgan@hotmail.com
Department: PUBLIC HEALTH
University: UNIVERSIDAD DE GUADALAJARA, Mexico
Supervisor: LETICIA ROBLES-SILVA
Year of completion: 2015
Language of dissertation: ESPAÑOL
Keywords:
Transnational caregiving
, Migration
, Ageing
, Elderly
Areas of Research:
Health
, Migration
, Family Research
Abstract
The data suggest that there are links between the population of Mexican migrants in the United States and their elderly relatives in Mexico within transnational families, because in 2009, the estimate of Mexican migrants in the United States was 11’500,000 million (Pew Hispanic Center, 2009) and according to the National Population Council (2005) in Mexico there are more than eight million people over 60 years. In a global world where technological achievements grow at a rapid pace, life expectancy increases on par with the presence of chronic diseases: the transnacional families have to resolve needs of its members, therefore a study on transnational care is necessary.
The purpose of this study was to understand the organization of transnational elder care that occurs in Mexican families. Together, the different members of the family distributed care actions and carried out by way of systems of care.
To achieve the goal I conducted a qualitative study in a city in western Mexico. I interviewed 14 different members of transnational families during 2012 and 2013. The results showed that families were organized by way of integrated care systems both relatives in the US as residing in Mexico, to a greater or lesser extent, deal with the care of the elderly. I also identified four styles of participation within the system: regular, subordinated, by substitution and support. I recommend also study the participation of national and integrate migrants in future to other communities that are not necessarily urban households, such as rural or indigenous populations, in order to analyze any differences between my study and other populations.
