Content uploaded by Daphna Arbell-Kehila
Author content
All content in this area was uploaded by Daphna Arbell-Kehila on Mar 25, 2019
Content may be subject to copyright.
A preview of the PDF is not available
Developing and Managing Knowledge and Practice of Care-giving: The Case of Filipina Domestic Workers in Singapore Committee Members
Abstract and Figures
Live-in foreign domestic workers (FDWs) in Singapore are an essential part of the economy but are socially marginalized as outsiders. In a reality of rapid demographic ageing and low fertility, Singaporean families usually engage a foreign domestic worker as a home-caregiver. There is almost no research literature on the experiences and education of women FDWs.
This qualitative, exploratory case study was designed to investigate the question: What influences the development of live-in FDWs caregivers’ lay knowledge? The literature review examined perspectives on (a) transnational migration and domestic work; (b) government policies and home caregiving in Singapore; (c) migration and adult learning and development; and (d) care ethics, knowledge, and practice.
Participants for this study were five Filipina live-in FDWs, who are also volunteer teachers, teaching caregiving classes to fellow domestic workers. The setting for the study is a non-governmental organization (NGO) based in the Republic of Singapore, which relies on volunteers from the domestic worker community to provide non-formal education programs.
Data were collected over a six-month period including two individual interviews and one focus group, conducted in a natural setting where people are actually engaged in the process under study. Data were analyzed using a three-step ethnographic process of direct observations combined with interviews, emphasis on local knowledge and context, and direct personal engagement of the researcher with the community of FDWs.
The FDWs’ complex personal, societal and cultural factors were linked to learning and knowledge development, suggesting a pluralistic epistemological framework, which was influenced by colonialism, current conditions in the Philippines, life in Singapore, and globalization.
The findings shed light on the challenges and ways FDWs manage and implement care-work and improve their learning and personal development through migration experiences. The influences on their learning processes highlight how individuals construct lay knowledge in real life. The study highlights the value of a non-Western notion of learning-communities, where adults organically teach and learn from each other to solve real-life problems, empower each other, and transform their roles and identities. The study results indicate a gap in the process of articulating and expressing knowledge by FDWs, reflecting a gap between the FDWs’ lay knowledge and the formal caregivers’ knowledge in the context of Singapore.
Recommendations emphasize the importance of education and training for live-in care-workers and the need for creating supportive and nurturing environment for caregivers and care recipients. By encouraging a systematic involvement of FDWs in the development of education and training programs, caregivers’ lay knowledge may be recognized and influence the development of home-care practice to close the gaps. Recognition of the caregivers’ lay knowledge is an important step in creating a new channel for social mobility of migrant domestic workers.
Figures - uploaded by Daphna Arbell-Kehila
Author content
All figure content in this area was uploaded by Daphna Arbell-Kehila
Content may be subject to copyright.
... The growing aging population as well as the increase in long-term health conditions can lead toa transition from independent living to home-care solutions for this population (Ansah et al., 2014;Carroll et al., 2016). Pitfalls of family care and differences in care concepts and skill gaps require re-conceptualization of carework qualifications and caregivers' training (Bloom et al., 2015;Kehila, 2018;Levine et al., 2010). The literature highlights the need for patient daily support at home, which can result in caregivers' stress and burn-out (Au et al., 2013;Friganovic et al., 2019;Mehta & Leng, 2017;Slocum-Gori et al., 2013). ...
... The government agencies rely on the voluntary sector and on families to offer care (Chin & Phua, 2016;Mehta & Leng, 2017;Thompson et al., 2014). Caregivers perform simple and complex tasks, make decisions, solve problems, provide emotional support and comfort, and coordinate care, which includes supervising patients and monitoring new signs and symptoms, adverse events, and positive responses to treatment (Ayalon, 2009;Kehila, 2018Kehila, , 2020bØstbye et al., 2013). With advanced technology, the home-based caregivers are expected to operate medical equipment and smart technologies to monitor the telehealth networks and digital devices for their clients (Gaikwad & Warren, 2009;Piau et al., 2019;Quinn et al., 2018). ...
... The relationship between the FDW (in this instance, the caregiver)-who implements the homecare-work-with her employer and the CRs influence the complexity of care provisions (Kehila, 2018;Malhotra et al., 2012;Walsh & Shutes, 2013). The literature confirms that stress can increase the likelihood of occupational burnout, which involves depersonalization, emotional exhaustion, and a sense of low personal accomplishment in the care dyad (Iecovich, 2008;Savage & Bailey, 2004;Shapiro et al., 2007). ...
This article describes an arts-based intervention program for seven care dyads of elderly persons and their caregivers who are foreign domestic workers (FDWs) in Singapore. The intervention aimed to introduce interdisciplinary tools of artmaking and mindfulness that could be used to improve the communication and relationship between the care dyad and to support the stress reduction and self-care of caregivers. Following a client-based approach, eight sessions were conducted, once weekly, over a 2-month period in hybrid structure, at the home of the care dyad and through the use of Google Meet. Qualitative data were collected in personal interviews, questionnaires, and visual data, and they were connected with art therapists fieldnotes and reflection journals. At the end of the program, an online feedback session was offered to the elderly participants family members, and their feedback was collected using a questionnaire. The data analysis confirms the impact of the artmaking intervention on the communication and relationship of the dyad. Participants reported that artmaking combined with mindfulness tools contributed to their understanding of their care-recipient (CR)/caregiver, improved their daily care activities, and helped caregivers explore new ways of self-care and stress relief. The hybrid model of implementation was effective and encouraged caregivers to explore and practice the tools learned independently between sessions. The results of this pilot program inform the development of intervention programs for care dyads as well as training programs for both caregivers, art therapists, and other care professionals. The intervention for care dyads highlights the importance of dyadic care as part of a holistic approach to caregiving. The inclusion of FDWs in the program suggests that both CRs and caregivers are one unit in which their well-being is interdependent. Further research may explore specific artmaking activities for other dyads of caregivers and CRs with differing care needs and backgrounds. Potential training activities and models could support the use of this intervention by therapists and other professionals.
... In a reality of rapid demographic aging and low fertility, Singaporean families usually engage a FDW as a home-caregiver. The importance of education and training for live-in care-workers in Singapore has influenced the development of a nonformal education market (Kehila, 2018). In my dissertation study, I argued that by encouraging a systematic involvement of FDWs in the development of education and training programs, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and other training providers may recognize the importance of caregivers' lay knowledge as an important step in creating a new channel for social mobility of migrant domestic workers. ...
... Human relationships are the core value of the Filipino culture (Clemente et al., 2008;De Guia, 2005;Francisco-Menchavez, Reyes, Mendoza, Ancheta, & Liwanag, 2018;Mendoza & Perkinson, 2003;Mansukhani, 2005;Reyes, 2015), which has a significant influence on the Filipino identity and behaviour. The Filipinos' virtue ethics form the core belief system that creates the foundations of the care knowledge of Filipina FDWs (Kehila, 2018). Recognizing the Filipina FDWs' initial perceptions on care-work as highly respectful and appreciative is fundamental for understanding their care knowledge, that develops high levels of personal motivation and selfsatisfaction. ...
This book weaves together critical studies of Singaporean films, compelling personal reflections, and analysis of the contemporary socio-political discourse. It probes into issues that arise from the dilemma of globalization and transnational migration in cosmopolitan Singapore and examines the angst of contemporary Singaporeans against the prevailing political order beyond the veneer of multiculturalism and government-sanctioned displays of social cohesion, inclusion, and harmony.
Through analyses of Singaporean films, Catherine Gomes writes about Singaporean anxieties concerning race, ethnicity, and identity construction. She writes honestly of dealing with being Eurasian, the ‘Other’ in Singapore, where ethnicity becomes a defining label. Her book is a great read while dealing with important issues of labour migration and ethnicity. This book will prove engaging to all Singaporeans and non-Singaporeans.
Using alternative methods to directly test Enriquez’s kapwa theory, this research attempted to characterize Filipino adolescents in terms of their values and the interrelationship of these values. Study 1 verified whether Enriquez’s list of 12 Filipino values would still be endorsed by Filipino adolescents. One hundred thirty six university students answered a questionnaire on these values. Eleven of the 12 values from the original model were retained (bahala na was dropped) while two values were added to the list (maka-Diyos and paggalang). Study 2 aimed to represent the relationship of the 13 values derived from Study 1. Forty seven university students formed individual maps linking these values to each other. After subjecting these maps to multidimensional scaling analysis (MDS), a reformulation of Enriquez’s value system was proposed. Two dimensions (Sarili-Lipunan and Ibang Tao-Hindi Ibang Tao) were suggested to underlie the revised value system.
Based on a multi-sited ethnographic case study on transnational care chains between Milan (Italy) and Lima, Huancayo, and Cuzco (Peru), the book explores how social inequalities are reproduced through the care practices that follow the introduction of Peruvian migrants into home-based elderly care. Anna Katharina Skornia adopts an innovative approach in combining research on transnational care and migration with a perspective on entangled inequalities. In particular, the study sheds light on the role of state regulations in contributing to these inequalities as well as their ambiguous implications from the perspectives of both caregivers and receivers.
As a small labor-short city-state with over 100,000 migrant domestic workers mainly from the Philippines, Indonesia, and Sri Lanka and amounting to one foreign maid to every eight households, Singapore provides a case study of a country where foreign maids are seen as an economic necessity but not without important social consequences and political ramifications. Beginning with a brief examination of state policy on transnational labor migration relating to female domestic workers, this article goes on to explore the debates within public discourse as well as private accounts on the impact of foreign maids on a range of issues, including female participation in the workforce; the social reproduction of everyday life including the delegation of the domestic burden and the upbringing of the young; the presence of “enclaves” of foreign nationals in public space; and bilateral relations between host and sending countries. It concludes that the transnational labor migration is a multifaceted phenomenon with important repercussions on all spheres of life, hence requiring dynamic policy intervention on the part of the authorities concerned.
Filipino immigrants and Filipino-serving community-based organizations (CBOs) in San Francisco work to meet community members’ immediate needs. At the same time, it activates political participation for Filipinos to make claims on traditional citizenship from the city agencies under an albeit xenophobic climate. Although city-level legislation marks San Francisco as politically progressive, Filipino community members experience the national anti-immigrant climate in the United States through a lack of services for integration. We argue that immigrants and CBOs develop “community citizenship” that link Filipino immigrants to local state services while engaging in community building activities that affirms the transnational identities of Filipinos as part of their (in) ability to participate politically in San Francisco. Through qualitative interviews from Filipino organizers and CBO staff, we argue that CBOs use Filipino core cultural values to facilitate collective responsibility for community members’ needs that is not only local but also always transnational under contradicting currents of liberal progressivism and neoliberal conservatism in the city and nationally.