The aim of this paper is to analyze the values of poor community-living elders about nonkin caregiving. A multicentric qualitative study was carried out in four states of Mexico. From 2002 to 2004, 92 old people participated. They were interviewed in their homes using a semi-structured interview. Data was content analyzed. Old people have the expectations to be cared by their children and in their homes. However, some of them do not receive care from their children because there is a lack of a reciprocity system between generations. Old people are cared by nonkin caregivers or they are institutionalized in a nursing home. Both types of care are valued negatively for two reasons, it is not a familial care and a nursing home is a place where care does not exist.
Aged; Homes for the aged; Caregivers; Qualitative research