Men and elder care in Japan: a ripple of change?

An area that has been ignored in the discussions of elder care in Japan is the role of men. This exploratory study is one of the first to examine the role of men in the day-to-day care of an older family member. For this qualitative study, 16 husbands and sons were interviewed to examine the extent of their involvement in caregiving. The research examined five areas: motivation, tasks, impact on work/family lives, community reaction, and meaning. Sons' motivations went beyond filial piety, to one of love and/or an opportunity to pay back a devoted parent; they experienced greater role conflict and used more formal services than husbands. Husbands evolved a spousal obligation to care for their wives, provided more hands-on care, and exhibited greater caregiver stress. Both sons and husbands gained insights from the caregiving role, which was undertaken with little societal recognition or understanding.