Cultural contexts of care: Family caregiving for elderly in America and Africa

A comparison is made between the caretaking of elderly in two communities, one in a suburb of Philadephia, USA, another in rural Botswana, Africa, from the point of view of social and economic differences.

Abstract

Societies differ in the way in which family members provide care to elderly. In this article a comparison is made between the caretaking of elderly in two communities, one in a suburb of Philadephia, USA, another in rural Botswana, Africa. The differences in the manner and frequency of family caretaking of elderly are examined from the point of view of social and economic differences in the two communities as well as from the point of view of cultural values about the nature of relations between members of different generations.