A1 Journal article (refereed)
Caring in space : the boundaries between public and private spaces in Finnish adult foster care homes (2021)

Leinonen, E. (2021). Caring in space : the boundaries between public and private spaces in Finnish adult foster care homes. Ageing and Society, 41(5), 1184-1201. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0144686X19001831

JYU authors or editors

Publication details

All authors or editors: Leinonen, Emilia

Journal or series: Ageing and Society

ISSN: 0144-686X

eISSN: 1469-1779

Publication year: 2021

Volume: 41

Issue number: 5

Pages range: 1184-1201

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Publication country: United Kingdom

Publication language: English

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0144686X19001831

Publication open access: Not open

Publication channel open access: 

Publication is parallel published (JYX): https://jyx.jyu.fi/handle/123456789/68314

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to explore a hybrid community-based form of care for older people called adult foster care. In the article, the nature of the foster care home as a place of care is explored from the foster carers’ point-of-view. It is based on an interview study of 12 foster carers. In this article, the theoretical frameworks from human geography and work–family research are combined in order to analyse the boundaries between private family-life and public work-life in the particular space of the foster care home. The research questions are: What kinds of public and private spaces exist in adult foster care homes? What kinds of boundaries separate (a) the public and private spaces and (b) the foster care home and the outside world? The findings suggest that foster care homes are very complex socio-spatial places of care, in which the questions of power (who can do what and when in a certain space), the re-organisation of home, and the division of private and public spaces all contest the idea of home as a mere ‘safe haven’ from the pressures of work life. Different boundaries and boundary management strategies enabled the foster carers to regard their place of living and working as their home, even though it had altered to a place of care of ‘strangers’.

Keywords: home care; caring for close relatives; privacy; publicity; boundaries; work; family (phenomena)

Free keywords: adult foster care; Finland; public and private; boundaries; work and family

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Related projects

Ministry reporting: Yes

Reporting Year: 2021

JUFO rating: 2