Family vulnerability for sick older adults: An empirical ethics study

In China, the conventional family-based ageing care model is under pressure from social transitions, raising the question of whether and to what extent families are still capable of dealing with the care of the aged.

This article examines the vulnerability and inadequacy of families to bear responsibility for the care of the aged against a backdrop of socioeconomic transformation and diminishing institutional support in rural China.

This article adopts an empirical ethical approach that integrates empirical investigation with ethical inquiry.

The empirical component of this article focuses on the lived experiences of caring for a wife and mother with dementia in one rural Chinese family, collected from a 6-month fieldwork study conducted at one primary hospital.

Approval was obtained from the university ethics committee.

The empirical study highlights a conflicted family process of managing and negotiating care that indicates the inadequacies and limited ability of families to deal with aged care tasks. In addition, inadequate structures and institutional deficiencies exacerbate the vulnerability of rural families and their inability to offer adequate care.

Acknowledging the vulnerability of families as ageing care providers, this article calls for a socially supported family care model for rural older people in China and also proposes policy recommendations.