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October 2021 Vol. 59 No. 2


Cornell University Press


The following review appeared in the October 2021 issue of CHOICE. The review is for your internal use only. Please review our Permission and Reprints Guidelines or email permissions@ala-choice.org.

Social & Behavioral Sciences
Sociology

59-0600
RA645
CIP
Mong, Sherry N. Taking care of our own: when family caregivers do medical work. Cornell, 2020. 204p bibl index ISBN 9781501751448, $115.00; ISBN 9781501751455 pbk, $21.95; ISBN 9781501751479 ebook, $10.99.

Mong (Capital Univ.) explores the role of at-home family caregivers through a sociological lens, bringing to light the contradictory scope of practice between paid skilled health care providers and unpaid family caregivers. She conducted 62 interviews with caregivers and nurses to analyze the processes and tasks of in-home caregivers. Her analysis of the skilled nursing tasks that caregivers absorb into their daily routines expostulates five main points: family caregivers learn to execute tasks far beyond traditional home care that home health aides are not legally allowed to perform; caregiver effort is motivated by one's relationship to the patient and feelings about being a caregiver are framed in this context; skilled care training is technical, intense, and short in duration; and the caregiver role is emotionally charged and filled with exhaustion, guilt, and worry. Lastly, due to bottom-line mentality, the current health care system offers narrow choices that result in unskilled caregivers at home, caregivers leaving paid employment to provide care, and the potential for poverty. Mong's goal is to enlighten and provide an in-depth understanding of the skilled work of family care givers to help us recognize our interdependency.

--B. A. D'Anna, SUNY Delhi

Summing Up: Recommended. All levels.