“The reason I had to provide care”: meanings assigned to caregiving by the female caregivers of children assisted by a Mental Health Service

Abstract

This paper presents the results of a study intended to identify and understand the meanings assigned to caregiving by women taking care of children assisted at a Child and Adolescent Psychosocial Care Center (CAPSij) during the Covid-19 pandemic. The ethnographic research was based on semi-structured interviews with five female caregivers: two grandmothers and three mothers. The interviews were held through telephone calls, complying with social isolation measures implemented at the time. These women considered that “providing care is necessary,” “providing care is life-changing,” and “providing care means maintaining a routine” and kept providing care even during the pandemic. These women’s caregiving role is deeply rooted in everyday practices, highlighting their socially vulnerable condition as female caregivers, characterized by inequalities compared to men.