Ethical Dimensions and Filial Caregiving

Abstract

Filial caregiving has significantly reduced nursinghome admission for oler relatives (LoSasso & Johnson, 2002). While much has been written about family caregiving stress, little has been writtten regarding ethical dimensions of filialresponsibiity for older parents / relatives and their perception of moral demands. Therfore, this paper provides the following: * An overview of the conept of family filial caregiving; * A discussion of family characteristics; and * An explication of ethical underpinnings and filial caregiver acceptance. The ethical challenge for health care providers and researchers is to explore with adult children the reasons given for persuading themselves to provide care. Discussion expands the awareness of the inter relationship between the nature of the prior filial relationship, image of caregiving, and ethical views that underscore acceptance of the filial obligation.