The Care of Chronic Illness: The ???Responsor??? Role

Abstract

Successful home care of chronically ill and disabled people often depends upon that family member who bears primary responsibility for helping the patient and cooperating with the home–care team. This family member plays a role which we entitle “responsor.” We describe a population of responsors as observed by a home“care team during their clinical activities. Based on this, we offer a general analysis of the structure and function of the responsor role, and its complex relationships to patient and home“care team. The role seems worthy of further study, in the interests of the courageous people who fill it and who must he reckoned an important resource in the problem of medical manpower. The activity “home care” is best understood through a form of systems analysis of the relationships between patient, responsor and team, within a frame of reference provided by the illness and its demands for care, and also by the other purposes of the household.