DOI: 10.17151/rlef.2025.17.2.4
How to Cite
González-Gaviria, M. A., & Bedoya-Gallego, D. M. (2025). From the devoted caregiver to the journey of their in-dependence: experiences of male caregivers. Latinoamericana De Estudios De Familia, 17(2), 61–81. https://doi.org/10.17151/rlef.2025.17.2.4

Authors

Maira Alejandra González-Gaviria
Corporación Universitaria Minuto de Dios – UNIMINUTO 
mgonzalez25@uniminuto.edu.co
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7128-6980
Perfil Google Scholar
Diana Marcela Bedoya-Gallego
Corporación Universitaria Minuto de Dios – UNIMINUTO 
mgonzalez25@uniminuto.edu.co
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1061-982X
Perfil Google Scholar

Abstract

The objective of the research was to understand the experience of self-care lived by male caregivers of elderly relatives. Under the phenomenological method, an approach was made to the possible expressions of care provided and self-care, as well as to the meanings given to these expressions; the procedure to collect the information was the episodic interview, carried out with each participant in different encounters, which were recorded, transcribed and then analyzed under the structural procedure. The results show that: they give up their daily and constant activities to offer this time to the care of the vulnerable or fragile relative; they experience difficult situations that generate discomfort, initially confronted through fortuitous self-care actions; which later become actions that they incorporate into their daily life, motivated by their beneficial effects; and which allows them to project themselves towards ways to rebuild their relationship with society in conjunction with the exercise of caring for their elderly relatives. It is concluded that the self-care practices that caregivers discover, consolidate and incorporate account for their capacity to recognize their individual needs and procure personal well-being both in the present and in the future; well-being that extends to their family members and to the caregiving relationship.

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