1.5.4 The patient’s role The patient is entirely passive in this scene. Does that mean that she has no role and is unimportant to the scene? Does her silence 1.5.2 Playing doctors, nurses and patients It is easy to see how junior doctors can see themselves as bei 1.5.1 Agreeing who to be So far I have focused on one-to-one interactions. Yet ‘defining a scene’ is often a group effort. Goffman says this involves teamwork, with all participants, in effect, agreeing to act and speak within an overall frame of reference. He suggests that it works like a theatrical play in which everyone has taken on a part within the scene. To play your part means setting aside all those aspects of yourself which are not relevant to your role. The scene works only because everyone plays their 1.2.2 Everyday scenes Think of examples of everyday scenes, at home or a work, which could be radically reshaped by an opening remark 1.2 Defining the scene Let us first consider what kind of ‘scene’ the home help was proposing that she and Reg should play out together. When the home help asked, ‘What do you want me t Learning outcomes After studying this unit you should be able to: demonstrate your understanding of the importance of negotiating the meaning of care relationships; identify ways in which people play the roles of ‘carer’ and ‘receiver of care’. 1.3.5 Coping with relocation We have seen that attachment to place can be important in terms of developing and maintaining feelings of security and a sense of self-identity However, care for some people involves relocation. Changes of place often involve people in coping with other types of change such as: changes of role (for example from being a homeowner to being a resident of a home; or from being a hospital resident to being a resident in the community) 1.3.4 Change on a daily basis: Day unit care The importance of maintaining continuity of people and places is important in both cases. Many people attend day care services and find that the change is a stimulating experience, widening their daily contacts and allowing them to become part of another group. The issues of continuity of experience raised here will be familiar to day care workers. Click below to hear an audio clip describing Redwood Day Unit. 1.3.3 Change on a daily basis: shared care for the elderly In the case of Mr Bright care is shared between his wife and formal carers and changes in the place of care are primarily to give Mrs Bright a break and Mr Bright a change of scene. Click below to hear an audio clip describing a day in the life of Mr and Mrs Bright. 1.3.1 The impact of surroundings Thinking about attachment to places leads us to think about just the opposite: how do people feel when they have to change places and move from one situation to another? Some people are always on the move while others seem to stay put for long periods of their lives. For children and adults receiving care services moving between places may be a common occurrence. These moves may be:
daily, part of a shared pattern of care where a person 1.2.4 Places and spaces as resources Attachment to places can be a resource within care relationships, especially where people have a shared history of attachment to places. An older couple may have experienced the ups and downs of moving between places together for much of their lives. Or a daughter may be caring for her mother in the home where she was born and brought up. A shared understanding of the home environment and the support which may be available locally can be invaluable in developing a care relationship. Such know Acknowledgements The content acknowledged below is Proprietary (see terms and conditions) and is used under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 Licence.
Text: 'Dream parents': courtesy of Anastasia Lee- 1.5.4 Networks The way Katrina's story is presented leaves out others who may be involved with the family. This is because the story was part of a campaign by Community Care magazine to highlight the plight of young carers. It made sense to emphasise Katrina's role and omit information which might detract from the impact of a single-issue campaign. The discovery of young carers is an interesting example of what happens when the official spotlight is turned on a particular group in society. Ther 2.4.3 abelling The term ‘informal carer’ is a label. It was coined to describe people who take on unpaid responsibility for the welfare of another person. It is a term which has meaning only when the public world of care provision comes into contact with the private world of the family where caring is a day-to-day, unremarked-upon activity, like reminding a young child to clean her teeth. Labelling yourself as an informal carer requires a major shift in the way you see yourself, a shift neither Arthur n 1 Caring: a family affair Mummy would love me, daddy would too, We'd go out on picnics or off to the zoo, We would play in the park and feed the birds, Listen to their songs and imagine their words. My life would be full of joy and laughter, All because they cared, my mother and father, Never would I feel all cold and alone, Knowing that I could always go home. They wo 8.2 Summary Enid and Sarah mentioned relatives and friends, but the others sounded as if they were managing on their own, or within their immediate family unit. Care work can be an isolating experience. The hours are long. Sometimes they are unpredictable, and being cared for doesn't always mean that you're necessarily going to be able to have the time or energy to develop other relationships. You might like to consider whether demographic changes are likely to have an effect on who is available for care 8.1 Feelings about care relationships Diane couldn't imagine being paid for what she did. She thought that, if she was paid, she would, ‘have felt obligated to do it’. This way it felt like her choice. ‘I wanted to make those choices freely.’ John described the basis of his caring for Mr Asghar as, ‘a mutually beneficial friendship … always has been’. Enid emphasised that she looked on her caring as a parental responsibility. ‘They're my children and it's my duty to look after them … they weren't ask 7.3 Other kinds of help Diane said that Paul and Stanley helped her with dog minding, gardening, shopping and other jobs around the house. Sometimes they bought her presents. John said that what he got from Mr Asghar was the reliability of long-term friendship, advice and support through his various recent problems. Enid mentioned help from relatives and friends, whom she had come to rely on. At home, Sarah got help from her mother, who was also disabled. She also got help from other students in he 7.2 What people do with the money? Diane and John didn't get any money. Enid saved her ‘lads’ money for them, and bought them clothes and other things from what she saved. She spent her ICA on herself, though it didn't sound as if she treated herself to many luxuries. Sarah's payments went towards the allowances for her volunteer helpers at university. They helped her with making meals, mobility around the campus and getting into town. Sometimes she needed help with personal care, such as washing her hair. 7.1 Payments received Diane Mallett said she didn't get any payment, though she used to get Invalid Care Allowance (ICA) when her mother-in-law was alive. Her brother-in-law, Paul, only got the lower level of Disablility Living Allowance. Diane pointed out that, if he'd been assessed before she intervened, he might have got a higher amount. John Avery said that Mr Asghar got Attendance Allowance. He thought he wouldn't be able to get Invalid Care Allowance, as this would affect his benefits. Enid Francis' so
Activity 8: The passive actor
Activity 7: The doctor role
Activity 3: Openings to everyday scene
Grateful acknowledgement is made to the following sources:
Dream parents