Caring for the Elderly from Prehistory to the Twentieth Century: Caregiving in Western Societies

By Beatrice Hale

This book explores the role of informal caregiving for the elderly from the neolithic period through to modern times. It is a first step in exploring care in the past by a variety of different people: family members, household staff, servants, slaves, neighbours, or anyone who took on the tending to and looking after of older people, despite having various other duties in their lives. The book explores the ancient societies of Egypt, Greece and Rome where spirituality, care and abuse has been noted in legal sources. It then examines early Christianity with its communal spirit of care, before moving on to the concept of the neighbourhood in medieval times. Personal experiences are highlighted through the author's examination of diaries belonging to family members of the elderly in nineteenth-century America. To conclude this historical overview of caregiving, the author reflects on modern work, describing the supportive interaction of individual members in small local groups. Interspersed with historical data from parish records and other sources, this book emphasises the social considerations that were taken around ageing and care throughout history.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 3031871278
• ISBN13: 9783031871276
• Release Date: September 2025
• Publisher: Palgrave MacMillan