Caring is the central and unifying domain for the body of knowledge and pratices in nursing, and caring is essential for human growth, development, and survival. So it has long been expressed by human cultures throughout the history of humankind. Caring behavior appears closely related to the social structure feutures of designated culture and can help to predict nursing care behaviors of the cultural group.
Caring is the universial phenomena in nursing and human culture, but its expression, process, and patterns are specific to the culture. To provide therapeutic care, the nurse should have knowledge of caring value, beliefs, and pratices of the clients. So, the identification of universial and non-universial folk caring behavior and practice will be advanced to the body of ´ knowledge and ultimately provide better nursing care to the people.
This study was guided by these basic assumptions.
The main purpose of this study was to desicribe various caring behaviors for the elderly practiced in a traditional community and ultimately to provide basic data for nursing practices and body of knowledge for the elderly care.
To investigate caring behaviors deeply and holistically, the ethnographic approaches were used.
The fieldwork for this study has been con-ducted from January, 1990 to Feburary, 1992. Three data collection methods were used 1) participant observation 2) in-depth interview 3) recorded data and social survey. The key informant were 19 elders age from 60 to 99, and gerneral informant were natives age from 50 to 60. The data were analysed by ethnoscientific method.
Results of study were as follows.
The reserch field, Robong, located in Samae Myoun, Namwon Gun, is traditional clan village.
The folk terms, elder and father-man and caring, reflects the basic thought of natives. They took a serious view of social relation and hierachial order between care giver and receiver.
Caring behaviors were described as to caring groups. Primary grpup was the exten4ed family of the elder. Secondary group was the Dang-Nae, which is small kinship structure, and age-set group. Local group was neighbors of elder.
The significant others of the elder in primary group was son and spouse. The primary group cared their parents(or grand parents) for the comfort of physical, emotional, and spritual. For physical comfort, protecting from environmant, giving sensory stimulation, and helping grooming and sanitary behaviors were conducted. For the comfort of mind, behaviors´ of managing by self, identifing need and emotional state, caution oneself, do not telling the truth, expressing Jeong, which composed of complex emotion(concern, long for, interest, hertly conscousness etc.), and keeping hierachial order were conducted. For the comfort of soul, behaviors of helping religious practices, preparing materials for the death ceremony, and .conducting Jeasa, hown-gap (60th birthday party) were conducted.
Dang-nae members cared the eldery by showing respects and concern in Jea-sa, wed-ding ceremony, and in the situation of sickness of elder. In everyday life they expressed respects and concern by means of visiting and sharing foods and meals. For the phiscal care they helf farming and home management.
Age set group is segmented system! They supported each other by means of sharing foods and material, being presence, sharing reminiscence and meaning of death in frequent meeting. The important role of age-set group member was brokerage. They earned material, labour,- and information by broker. The broker controlled harmony of family and community. As a intimate companion, age-set group were useful source for telling with heartness about death.
Community care group were cared the elderly by showing respects and concern by means of greeting, sharing food, visiting, keeping the domain of elder, and elderly festival.
Principle of caring behaviors were group membership, hierarchy, and reciprocity.
These results are to be useful for the practices of nursing and nursing dicipline for the elderly.
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