The elderly are growing rapidly today as life expectancy increases. As this longevity has increased, so has the need for filial caregivers. While much has been written about caregiving stress, little has been written regarding the ethical dimensions of filial responsibility and daughter and son caregivers' perceptions of responsibility and moral demands. This paper will address the concept of family caregiving and contextual family characteristics. Family characteristics will expand awareness of the interrelationship value between the nature of the prior filial relationship, image of caregiving, and ethical views that underscore acceptance of the filial obligation. An explanation of both the interview process and selected measurements that speak to ethical perspective, sense of caregiving image, and expectations of filial caregiving will also be addressed. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to elucidate how adult children may be helped in an anticipatory and proactive manner as more and more adult children take on parent care for longer durations of time.
Keywords: elderly; ethics and decision-making; ethics of caregiving; filial caregiving.