This Article Full Text (PDF) All Versions of this Article: 1557988307311353v1 3/1/36    most recent References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Fraser, C. Articles by Warr, D. J. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Fraser, C. Articles by Warr, D. J. Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

Challenging Roles: Insights Into Issues for Men Caring for Family Members With Mental Illness

Centre for Rural Mental Health, Bendigo Health Care Group, Bendigo, Australia

Deborah J. Warr, BA, MA, PhD

McCaughey Centre for the Promotion of Mental Health and Community Wellbeing, University of Melbourne, Carlton, Australia, djwarr{at}unimelb.edu.au

Assumptions informing expectations of caring may not reflect the diversity of circumstances in which informal care is provided, and scant attention has been given to the experiences of men providing care to family members. This study reports on qualitative findings from a study that explored these issues among rural men caring for partners or children with a range of mental illnesses. The findings suggest that the primary relationship between carers and care recipients influences the ways in which the men understand and practice their caring roles. Fathers consistently described proactive approaches to caring and were strongly focused on managing the illness condition. There was some complementarity between parenting and caring roles that is likely to explain why they reported a high use of, and satisfaction with, mental health services. Husbands tended to take reactive approaches to caring in which they were more concerned with managing situations that were associated with their partners' illnesses. Husbands reported limited contact with treatment and support services and perceived them as inappropriate to their circumstances. All of the men were presented with complex tensions in their caring roles, and the men's accounts of caring that are presented offer useful insight into the contexts in which men are increasingly taking on caring roles in families and inform efforts to support men in this capacity.

Key Words: men • gender • caring • mental illness • mental health policy

This version was published on March 1, 2009

American Journal of Men's Health, Vol. 3, No. 1, 36-49 (2009)
DOI: 10.1177/1557988307311353


CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?