Sustaining care for a parent with dementia: an indefinite and intertwined processShow others and affiliations
2017 (English)In: International Journal of Qualitative Studies on Health and Well-being, ISSN 1748-2623, E-ISSN 1748-2631, Vol. 12, no 1, article id 1389578
Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]
This study aimed to understand how adult children sustain caring for persons with dementia (PwDs) within their family and formal care contexts in Canada. Half-day focus groups were conducted with adult daughters and adult sons in Toronto, Canada. Using constructivist grounded theory, we examined both substantive concepts and group dynamics. Sustaining care was interpreted as an indefinite process with three intertwined themes: reproducing care demands and dependency, enacting and affirming values, and “flying blind” in how and how long to sustain caring (i.e., responding to immediate needs with limited foresight). Family values and relationships, mistrust toward the institutional and home care systems, and obscured care foresight influenced care decisions and challenged participants in balancing their parents’ needs with their own. Positive and negative aspects of care were found to influence one another. The implications of these findings for research and policy are discussed.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Taylor & Francis, 2017. Vol. 12, no 1, article id 1389578
Keywords [en]
adult child, Alzheimer, caregiving, dementia, family care, focus group, formal care, grounded theory, informal care, relational care, aged, Canada, caregiver, child parent relation, empathy, female, home care, human, information processing, male, mental stress, middle aged, nursing, parent, social support, Adult Children, Caregivers, Focus Groups, Home Care Services, Home Nursing, Humans, Parent-Child Relations, Parents, Stress, Psychological
National Category
Occupational Therapy
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:hj:diva-59579DOI: 10.1080/17482631.2017.1389578ISI: 000419649800001PubMedID: 29050539Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-85049871540OAI: oai:DiVA.org:hj-59579DiVA, id: diva2:1733339
2023-02-022023-02-022023-02-02Bibliographically approved