Care as a Gradual Process
Introduction
Care is something that most of us are fortunate to be able to give and receive, something we experience every day in most cases. We don’t need to think about it, it’s just there. We give and receive it intuitively. We care for our family members, friends, neighbours and even our pets. In a different way we care for our country our principles and some of our institutions.
Caring as a profession is a little different but only because the caring relationship can begin abruptly and to a degree the relationship is forced by circumstances. The way that a caring relationship develops is, though, exactly the same. Care evolves over time and time is what carers are sometimes short of.
Extracts
… Caring as a process is attentive to moment-to-moment details and the overall form simultaneously.
… It is important to be aware it is a process and that each act is integrated with another preceding it and following it. Care as a process is both conscious and unconcious, its path and incremental development discernible when closely observing, the synchrony of gesture between cared and carer, the talking, walking together, playing, rehearsal, performance, knowing a look one from another, the pace, the shared space and activity.
… To facilitate closely detailed caring as a process it can only happen extremely gradually.
