Part III Commentary: Meaning Focused Perspectives on Suffering, Compassion, and Caregiving for the Elderly: A Commentary On Schulz’s & Monin’s Model

This commentary on the caregiver suffering-compassion model by Schulz and Monin (2018) intends to complement their view by proposing a perspective on meaning-making in relation to suffering, needing, giving, and receiving care. I base my arguments on logotherapy, existential analysis, and developmental cultural psychology. One of my core approaches to meaningmaking of aging, illness, death, and dying as well as to decision making about care practices is the questions of purpose in life and impending finitude. Furthermore, I pay special attention to affective processes related to care, which can coexist in inherent tension (e.g., death of care recipient as object of relief versus guilt). In addition, I focus on motivations for caregiving beyond compassion (e.g., duty, gratitude, “ikagi”) and the cultural influences on them. This view emphasizes the relational nature of meaning-making and the active role of caregivers and care receivers in it. In doing so, I respond to a gap mentioned by Schulz and Monin, namely that the role of cultural factors in the translation process between the experience and expression of suffering should be further explored. To do so, I move from meaning-making at the individual level to a consideration of macrolevel dimensions that influence this process such as ideologies (e.g., value of youth), cultural practices (e.g., praying), and assistive technologies (e.g., music and media). After presenting these arguments in detail, I suggest lines for further research in the field, taking into consideration the resources and needs of caregivers and care receivers in elderly context.