老龄化和空巢化的发展加剧了城乡老人的养老问题，特别是农村地区的空巢老人，在老人身体健康允许的情况下往往选择由配偶承担照顾责任。老年配偶照顾者既要担负起老人的日常照顾，又要面对生理上的老化乃至老年性疾病，双重角色的扮演加上身体机能的衰退使其在长期照顾过程中面临更多的困境和挑战，进而产生丰富的照顾体验。因此，从老年配偶照顾者的视角去了解他们的照顾认知评价和照顾感受，分析归纳老年配偶照顾者所做出的压力应对策略，进一步发挥社会工作在改善老年配偶照顾者照顾体验中的作用具有研究的必要性。
本研究的核心研究问题为：农村空巢老人配偶照顾者在照顾过程中的照顾体验研究，具体细化为以下三个子问题：第一，探索老年配偶照顾者提供照顾的动机以及对照顾者角色的态度。第二，探索老年配偶照顾者有着怎样的照顾经历和感受。第三，探索老年配偶照顾者在照顾过程中有哪些应对压力的策略。本研究采用质性研究的方法，采用滚雪球抽样，选取了安徽省阜阳市S镇8个农村空巢老人配偶照顾者为研究对象，以老年配偶照顾者的照顾动机、照顾角色、照顾感受和困难应对为主题，探索这些照顾经验和照顾者对此的主观诠释。
本文得出以下研究结论：（1）老年配偶照顾者的照顾动机包括：夫妻情感和家庭责任、回馈过往付出、社区情理的制约和激励。（2）老年女性和男性照顾者主要从自我遵从以及履行义务两个角度解释照顾身份的转变，在照顾角色适应上则分别采取慢慢将就和灵活主动的态度。（3）老年配偶照顾者在照顾过程中感受到了负担与收获并存。一方面是消极体验，具体表现为身体、心理、经济以及社会生活层面的压力；另一方面，积极体验具体表现为情感满足和自我成就感。（4）造成老年配偶照顾者照顾负担的原因包括专业照顾技巧匮乏、家庭照顾人手短缺、社会支持力度不够三个方面。（5）农村空巢老人配偶照顾者在面对压力事件时会采取情绪层面、认知层面以及行为层面上的应对策略。
最后，基于本研究的研究发现，社会工作可以从以下三个方面改善老年配偶照顾者的照顾体验：疏导照顾负面情绪，引导重构积极认知；拓展社会支持网络，降低照顾负性体验；开展照顾者支持小组，采取积极压力应对策略。

The development of aging and empty nesting has exacerbated the problem of elderly care in both urban and rural areas, especially in rural areas where empty nesters often choose to have their spouses assume caregiving responsibilities when their health permits. The dual role of the elderly spouse caregiver, who is responsible for the daily care of the elderly and also faces physiological aging and even geriatric diseases, combined with the decline of physical functions makes him or her face more dilemmas and challenges in the process of long-term caregiving, which results in a rich caregiving experience. Therefore, it is necessary to understand the cognitive evaluation of caregiving and caregiving feelings from the perspective of elderly spouse caregivers, to analyze and summarize the stress coping strategies of elderly spouse caregivers, and to further develop the role of social work in improving the caregiving experience of elderly spouse caregivers.
The core research question of this study is: the caregiving experience of spousal caregivers of rural empty nest elderly, which is subdivided into the following three sub-questions: First, to explore the motivation of elderly spousal caregivers in providing care and their attitudes toward the role of caregivers. Second, to explore what caregiving experiences and feelings older spouse caregivers have. Third, to explore what strategies older spouse caregivers have for coping with stress in the caregiving process. This study used a qualitative research approach with snowball sampling to select eight rural spousal caregivers of empty nest elderly in S town, Fuyang City, Anhui Province, to explore these caregiving experiences and caregivers' subjective interpretations of them, using the themes of elderly spousal caregivers' caregiving motivations, caregiving roles, caregiving feelings, and coping with difficulties.
This paper draws the following research conclusions: (1) Older spouse caregivers' caregiving motivations include: spousal emotions and family responsibilities, giving back to past giving, and constraints and incentives of community reasoning. (2) Older female and male caregivers interpreted the change in caregiving status primarily in terms of self-compliance and fulfillment of obligations, and took a slow and flexible approach to caregiving role adaptation, respectively. (3) Older spouse caregivers felt both burden and reward in the caregiving process. On the one hand, negative experiences are expressed as physical, psychological, economic, and social stress; on the other hand, positive experiences are expressed as emotional satisfaction and self-fulfillment. (4) The reasons for the caregiving burden of elderly spouse caregivers include lack of professional caregiving skills, shortage of family caregivers, and insufficient social support. (5) Spousal caregivers of rural empty nesters adopt emotional, cognitive, and behavioral coping strategies when faced with stressful events.
Finally, based on the findings of this study, social work can improve the caregiving experience of elderly spouse caregivers in the following three ways: channeling negative caregiving emotions and guiding the reconstruction of positive cognitions; expanding social support networks to reduce negative caregiving experiences; and conducting caregiver support groups to adopt positive stress coping strategies.