Doctoral Dissertation Research: Middle Class Participation in the Marketized Eldercare Industry

博士论文研究：中产阶级参与市场化养老产业

• 批准号: 2148813
• 负责人: Scott Stonington
• 金额: $ 1.98万
• 依托单位: Regents of the University of Michigan - Ann Arbor
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2022-01-01 至 2022-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2148813&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Doctoral; Dissertation; Research; Middle; Class

This doctoral dissertation research project scientifically explores how behaviors and decisions related to housing and care during retirement are transforming as the eldercare industry becomes increasingly marketized. Market-based eldercare has expanded as the size of the aging population continues to increase, reliance on kin-based networks of care declines, and an expanding middle class orientation in consumer behavior has driven a preference for options in eldercare services. In focusing on the behaviors of a cohort first-generation middle-class retirees, the project aims to understand how older age experiences have been transformed by a transition to market-based alternatives and away from kin networks for older age housing and care. In addition to training a graduate student in methods of scientific data collection and analysis, it will also provide valuable material for professionals working in the fields of retirement planning and eldercare management. The project also broadens the participation of groups historically underrepresented in science. The doctoral student investigates the extent to which middle-class identity shapes decisions about eldercare in later life under conditions of market transformation, through an examination of the experiences of individuals who opt into privatized eldercare. The researcher will observe nursing home behaviors, tours, and care practices for older adults who live in a high-end nursing home. Older adults who can afford high-end nursing homes identify themselves as middle-class and distinguish themselves from others by consuming care services and goods including nursing homes. By conducting ethnographic research including participant observation, semi-structured interviews and case studies, this research asks how the marketized care industry, welfare policies, and all the choices and care practices shape the aging experience of the middle class. This research will further scientific understanding of the relationship between social class, commercialization, and eldercare.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

该博士学位论文研究项目科学地探讨了随着老年护理行业越来越多地市场的销售，与退休期间与住房和护理有关的行为和决策如何发生变化。基于市场的老年护理随着老龄化人口的规模不断增加，对基于亲属的护理网络的依赖而扩大，消费者行为的中产阶级方向不断扩大，这使人们对老年护理服务的期权偏爱。该项目的重点是第一代中产阶级退休人员的行为，旨在了解如何通过过渡到基于市场的替代方案而远离亲属网络来改变年龄较大的老年网络，以换取老年人的住房和护理。除了培训研究生的科学数据收集和分析方法外，它还将为在退休计划和老年管理领域工作的专业人员提供宝贵的材料。该项目还扩大了历史上代表性不足的科学的群体的参与。博士生调查了中产阶级的身份在市场转型条件下，通过考察选择私有化的老年护理的个人经历，在市场转型条件下塑造有关以后生活的决定的程度。研究人员将为居住在高端疗养院的老年人中观察疗养院的行为，旅行和护理习惯。能够负担得起高端疗养院的老年人认为自己是中产阶级，并通过消费包括疗养院在内的护理服务和商品来与他人区分开。通过进行民族志研究，包括参与者观察，半结构化访谈和案例研究，这项研究询问了市场化的护理行业，福利政策以及所有选择和护理实践如何影响中产阶级的老化经验。这项研究将进一步科学地理解社会阶层，商业化和老年保健之间的关系。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并使用基金会的知识分子优点和更广泛的影响标准，被认为值得通过评估来获得支持。