Migrant women caregivers’ experiences in end-of-life formal care

Abstract

Objective: To describe and understand the experience of Latin American migrant women as caregivers of elderly people in situations of advanced illness and end of life. Method: Qualitative study using Gadamer’s hermeneutic phenomenology. Data were collected in 2019 through 9 semi-structured interviews with Latin American women caregivers, who had cared for people at the end of life, in the Province of Granada (Spain). Results: Two themes emerged: “Migrant caregiver at the end of life” and “And now, what should I do?”: the impact of the loss at the economic, emotional and labor level Conclusion: Care during the end of life of the cared person generates an additional overload to the situation of migrant women. The experience of this stage is related to the bond with the persons cared and their families, which may affect the development of complicated grief and personal problems related to the loss of employment and the absence of economic support.