- Teaching-Research-Extension: Methodological and Ethical Lessons Learned with Caregivers of the Elderly in Colombia

Abstract

The article focuses on the methodological memory and the way in which the relationshipwas built between teaching, research, and extension of the research-training process carried out by the Faculty of Social and Human Sciences of the University of Antioquia in agreement with the Protección S. A. pension fund in five cities of Colombia: Rionegro, Bogotá, Cali, Pereira, and Medellín, with the participation of 202 formal, informal, and volunteer caregivers of elder adults between August 2018 and March 2020. The research that gives rise to the article analyzed the meanings of care constructed by caregivers of elder adults in the five cities, which was conducted from the qualitative perspective with particularistic and collaborative ethnographic modality. This article shows that the articulation of the three university mission axes of extension-teaching-research allows a triple response from the university. In terms of extension, it makes it possible to address an issue of national interest, such as accelerated aging, and to make caregivers visible. The creation of the training space made it possible for caregivers to transform the meanings of care and the meaning of interactions with other subjects who are part of the caregiving process. Finally, it shows the importance of including in the extension processes research exercises that provide scientific support to the social interventions promoted by the university.