From Mother to Caregiver - by Genevieve Currie & Kinga Pozniak (Paperback)

About the Book

Mothers caring for children with complex health and social care needs are socially responsible for preserving and fostering the lives of their children and families, sometimes under extreme pressure and expectations. This work of caring for children is overwhelmingly the responsibility of mothers. The social expectation in most cultures is that mothers should care for their children regardless of the medical, social, economic, or physical circumstances. These experiences of mothering and care work, structured from women's daily lives, have been largely unknown, hidden, or silenced, and not considered as important knowledge. This book is an international collection written by mothers, about mothering and caregiving. The submissions straddle the continuum between personal accounts and research. The collection offers insight into how to support and build capacity for mothers? profound courage, creativity, persistence, and strengths in meeting these care responsibilities. These experiences provide insight into the need for equitable care arrangements and care models that support mothers caring for children with complex care needs.

Book Synopsis

Mothers caring for children with complex health and social care needs are socially responsible for preserving and fostering the lives of their children and families, sometimes under extreme pressure and expectations. This work of caring for children is overwhelmingly the responsibility of mothers. The social expectation in most cultures is that mothers should care for their children regardless of the medical, social, economic, or physical circumstances. These experiences of mothering and care work, structured from women's daily lives, have been largely unknown, hidden, or silenced, and not considered as important knowledge. This book is an international collection written by mothers, about mothering and caregiving. The submissions straddle the continuum between personal accounts and research. The collection offers insight into how to support and build capacity for mothers' profound courage, creativity, persistence, and strengths in meeting these care responsibilities. These experiences provide insight into the need for equitable care arrangements and care models that support mothers caring for children with complex care needs.

Review Quotes

Mother-caregivers of vulnerable children endure hard, private, and often misunderstood lives. Literature that represents this unique group is gaining attention. From Mother to Caregiver: Mothering Children with Lifelong Care Needs Across the Life Course is a collection of academic articles and personal narratives written by mother-caregivers and offers diverse methodological approaches ranging from autoethnographic, hermeneutic, and arts infused frameworks to personal essays and reflections, all the while interweaving academic discourse with lived experience. The collection provides a solution-focused integrated care approach crossing numerous sectors, that is planful, and intentional and serves to provide a response to the challenges identified. This is a very important contribution to the field, as families need to find sustainable means in succession planning. I highly recommend From Mother to Caregiver to guardians, helping professionals, and all those associated with long term care of vulnerable families. - Nan Stevens, EdD Author/Scholar/Consultant Mothers? Gifts: Best practice for supporting children with exceptional needs This collection offers readers multiple entry points into the social landscape of mothering and caregiving children living with disabilities. As the authors navigate the complex social ecology of roles/labels, uniquely lived experiences, and pre-existing structural barriers, mothers are rendered liminally agape in the social construct of disability. The edited compilation showcases the energy expended by mothering caregivers in their day-day functioning and routines as a vigilance that must then stretch beyond what is reasonable to address gaps and barriers affecting families living with disability in "othering" social spaces. - Joanna Szabo RN PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Nursing, Mount Royal University.

About the Author

Genevieve Currie is the mother of two children, both with neurodevelopmental disorders, and one which has a rare medically complex disease. She is a parent advocate, registered nurse, and researcher. She is an Associate Professor in the School of Nursing and Midwifery at Mount Royal University, Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Her current research and expertise interests are focused on family centered care, family engagement in health care and research, and pediatric medical complexity and rare diseases. Kinga Pozniak is a socio-cultural anthropologist and currently a postdoctoral researcher at CanChild Centre for Childhood Disability Research at McMaster University, Canada. Her research focuses on the experiences of disabled children and their families. She is also a mother of two boys, one of whom lives with a disability.