成年子女與老年父母家庭照護關係的論述

The Issues of Intergenerational Caregiving between Adult Children and Their Aged Parents

高齡化社會的到來意味著老人長期照護的問題及需求日益殷切。國內老人照護服務的模式素以非機構化的家庭照護為主流，而家庭功能的發揮及照護品質的維持，往往與照護過程中的諸多因素有關，其中有關成年子女與年老長者間的情感關係在照護過程的重要性是最常被學者所強調的因素。國外自90年代開始，許多的家庭照護研究學者均重視此議題，且紛紛投入相關的研究及探討，然而國內至今對此議題並不多見。家庭照顧在我國老人照護服務深具文化、社會及傳統的重要價值及意涵，因此探究或研議我國老人家庭照護或議題時，重視並導入子女與父母間情感關係的考量有其必要且實質上的價值。本文以現今台灣老年家庭照護的變遷為經，成年子女在照護過程中可能的兩難情境為緯，並試以老年長輩的生命歷程(lifecourse)概念出發，檢視照顧者與受照顧者(caregiver-care receiver)間情感關係在老年家庭照護過程的互動關係。期望本文的討論能在現今老年家庭照護的知識探究或實務應用上，能引發更多的省思。

The increasing number of elderly persons in the population has resulted in greater prominencefor the caregiving role among family members. Researches in the area of family caregiving havesuggested that caregiving, such as that experienced by caregivers may be related to contextualfactors and salience factors. One psychological factor that has not been well investigated to date isattachment. Attachment may be an important determinant for family caregiving in Taiwan. Familycaregiving in Taiwan is influenced by multiple socio-cultural factors. Therefore, this article is focuson the attachment theory to explore the application of the theory in family caregiving for the elderly.This article also can inform health professionals, researchers, and policy makers to adjust theirconcerns to be related more appropriately and effectively for caregivers'perspectives.