Care Deliberations of Family Carers of People Living With Dementia—Applying an Affective‐Discursive Practices Approach

Dementia is the leading cause of care needs for older adults in Finland, with significant care contributions from families. Although not legally obliged, families often provide care driven by emotional bonds, moral obligations and practical considerations. Even though previous research has extensively explored the reasons why families provide care, analyses of their affective dimensions remain scarce. This study aims to explore these by examining the care deliberations of family carers of people living with dementia, using an affective-discursive practices approach. It focuses on how the entangled dimensions of affect, embodied experience and discourse shape their care choices, applying the approach to the written diaries of 15 Finnish adult children of people living with dementia. The approach embeds personal experiences and interactions within broader sociocultural structures. The results show how carers draw from societal norms and expectations linked to family care (e.g., devotion, duty and reciprocity) but also how they might renegotiate them to justify withdrawing from care. The analysis highlights how affective dilemmas can be approached by linking affect to discourse on a macro level, looking at societal discourses and the affective climates of care and examining how affect is mobilised in everyday interactions to make sense of care choices.