Abstract
In Brazil, most of the research on care for the elderly comes from areas such as geriatrics, gerontology, nursing and public health. This paper proposes to discuss a sociological concept to study the work of caring for elderly women living in Long Term Care Institutions for the Elderly (LTCIEs). Such concept has been forged out of research experiences in caring for the elderly in LTCIEs located in the Federal District and the state of Goiás. The experience allowed the construction of a situational and multidimensional concept of care, considering a body technique re-created by female caregivers in Total Institutions; it includes affective, cognitive, moral and power-related aspects.
Keywords:
caring work; dirty work; affections; body techniques; Long-Term Institutions