The meaning of burden of care in a faith-based community: the case of ultra-Orthodox Jews (UOJ).
The context of caregiving in the ultra-Orthodox Jewish community is still an uncharted field. We sought to facilitate an in-depth understanding of caregivers in Israel through their views of their position as primary caregivers, their coping mechanisms with the challenges of caregiving burden, and their unfulfilled needs.



Data were drawn from interviews with 28 participants, serving as primary caregivers for at least a year.



Three major themes emerged from the data analysis: (1) burden of care as a universal experience, (2) the faith-based spiritual meaning of caring for parents, and (3) modest needs and expectations from the formal services - a total reliance on the familial-community service system, while there is some indication of unfulfilled needs that should be addressed by the formal service system.



Intervening parties should be aware of the 'cultural color,' and not ignore the unique difficulties this population faces. Policy-makers should acknowledge the patterns of non-formal services used in this community.
a School of Social Work , University of Haifa , Haifa , Israel.|b Department of Social Work , Ben-Gurion University of the Negev , Beer-Sheva , Israel.
Offer E
OE
Edelstein
c Department of Gerontology , University of Haifa , Haifa , Israel.
Tova
T
Band-Winterstein
d Department of Public Health , Ben-Gurion University of the Negev , Beer-Sheva , Israel.
Yaacov G
YG
Bachner
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D017028:Caregivers / Q000523:psychology*; D017281:Cost of Illness; D005190:Family / Q000208:ethnology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007557:Israel / Q000208:ethnology; D007585:Jews / Q000523:psychology*; D007599:Judaism / Q000523:psychology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D036301:Qualitative Research; D012069:Religion and Psychology
Burden of care; faith-based community; minorities; ultra-Orthodox