Tait, Rosemary (2020) Values Associated With Caregiving for Elderly Family Members in Rural and Regional Queensland, Australia. Honours thesis, University of Southern Queensland. (Unpublished)
Abstract
Australia’s population is ageing and with increased age comes increased disability and the need for care. Recently however, there has been a decline in the number of people who are willing and able to care for elderly family members. There is significant empirical evidence to suggest that caring for an elderly relative is associated with a range of negative physical and psychological outcomes. However, it is also recognized that some carers experience positive emotions and that these can co-occur with negative ones. This study investigates the values associated with caring for elderly relatives for carers who live in rural and regional locations in Queensland, Australia. Seven participants were interviewed in order to gain insight into the values that they hold, the extent to which the rural context helps shape these values and how these two things influence the experience of caregiving in this context. Semi-structured interviews were carried out and analysed using reflexive thematic analysis. Five main themes were identified: (1) Rural Identity, (2) The Centrality of Relationships, (3) The Value of Caregiving, (4) A Cultural Frame and, (5) Not Without Challenges. These themes explore the participant’s experience of place, identity, relationship and social context as they relate to the experience of caring for an elderly relative. The study found that the rural context provides a unique opportunity for values associated with caregiving to develop and contributes to an understanding of how positive experiences can arise within the caring relationship.
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| Item Type: | Thesis (Non-Research) (Honours) |
|---|---|
| Item Status: | Live Archive |
| Additional Information: | Current UniSQ staff and students can request access to this thesis. Please email research.repository@unisq.edu.au with a subject line of SEAR thesis request and provide: Name of the thesis requested and Your name and UniSQ email address |
| Faculty/School / Institute/Centre: | Historic - Faculty of Health, Engineering and Sciences - School of Psychology and Counselling (1 Jan 2015 - 31 Dec 2021) |
| Supervisors: | Bob Knight |
| Date Deposited: | 24 Sep 2025 05:00 |
| Last Modified: | 24 Sep 2025 05:00 |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | caregiving; informal caring; rural; regional; values; thematic analysis; |
| Fields of Research (2008): | 17 Psychology and Cognitive Sciences > 1799 Other Psychology and Cognitive Sciences > 179999 Psychology and Cognitive Sciences not elsewhere classified |
| Fields of Research (2020): | 52 PSYCHOLOGY > 5299 Other psychology > 529999 Other psychology not elsewhere classified |
| URI: | https://sear.unisq.edu.au/id/eprint/52806 |
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