Family Care: A Look at the Particularities of Caring for the Elderly within the Family in Brazil

The increase in life expectancy in Brazil is one of the consequences of the intensification of care demands for the
elderly. Public policies aimed at this demand are scarce and the responsibility falls almost exclusively on families,
especially women. In the Brazilian context, unpaid family carers are a central figure in care arrangements. This
presentation will discuss the results of an exploratory qualitative study with family carers of elderly people based
on in-depth interviews carried out in their homes, located in the city of São Paulo. The study investigated the
routine of family care and the trajectories of carers, and explored the effects of this responsibility on their
professional, financial, emotional and social lives, as well as trying to map access to public care services. This
exhibition will present preliminary reflections on aspects that characterise family care for the elderly and indicate
differences concerning other types of care. In this endeavour, specificities will be discussed based on some
analytical dimensions: bodily, emotional, financial, legal, power and authority, care arrangements and networks,
among others.