Abstract
Today, some men are taking part in providing elderly care, as Japanese society has many elderly people and more Japanese women work outside the home. This study is intended to help specialists in clinical care support male caregivers engaged in excretory care at home, and investigate what kind of hesitation and acceptance male caregivers feel in providing excretory care. This study was based on semi-structured interviews, which were analyzed in quality. The subjects interviewed were 11 male caregivers providing excretory care. Those interviews showed that their hesitation was derived from four types of feelings. They were "disgust related to excreta", "hesitation influenced by conventional ideas about excretory care", "unacceptable feelings in their relationship to the care-receiver", and "hesitation about excretory care itself". In further inquiry, conspicuous among male caregivers are the following : 'they have an impression that woman's genital areas are unclean', 'they think that excretory care is given by people of low status', and 'they think that excretory care is given by women.' These three are from "hesitation influenced by conventional ideas about excretory care." And 'they think it inappropriate to provide excretory care for women.' These thoughts arise from "unacceptable feelings in their relationship with care-receivers." It seems that these thoughts of male caregivers are deeply influenced by male chauvinism, which has been based on social standards and conventional thinking. Moreover, the kind of feelings that would facilitate male caregivers acceptance of giving excretory care were clarified. They are five kinds of feelings : "affection for care-receivers", "sympathy for care-receivers", "acceptance of inevitability of excretory care", "feelings of being rewarded for efforts in providing care", and "pride of the way they provide care". Although male caregivers provide hesitant care, they can accept excretory care, and are concerned about it. For future support, it is necessary to reduce the disgust and hesitation disclosed in this study by introducing deodorants into excretory care and by providing health education. It is also necessary to praise the efforts of male caregivers and to make them feel themselves appreciated in order to facilitate male caregivers acceptance of giving excretory care.
