[Care taking experiences and social relations of the elderly]

This is a qualitative study based on interviews with 18 former caregivers in Vienna. It can be found that caregiving is not restricted to close family members but covers a rather wide range of related and non-related persons. Caregivers usually start their career as middle-aged persons (around 55); due to the length of caregiving, most caregivers have gone past the age of 60 at the end of the caregiving period. Women without competing social responsibilities dominate among caregivers. Three mechanisms of reciprocity seem to be able to generate positive feelings toward the caregiving experience: gratitude from those cared for, balanced interaction, and financial compensations. Only in a very few cases are shared functions between different caregivers or between caregiver and formal services observed. Efforts towards formal services prove to be of little success in supporting the primary caregiver. In the final stage, almost all supported old people enter an institutional environment.