"He is changing, but I'm changing too": An interpretative phenomenological analysis of spouse caregivers' identity in the context of dementia.

IF 1.9 4区 医学 Q2 NURSING Scandinavian Journal of Caring Sciences Pub Date : 2024-12-01 Epub Date: 2024-08-12 DOI:10.1111/scs.13287
Nicolas Westrelin, Catherine Denève, Pierre Gérain, Emmanuelle Zech
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Abstract

Objective: This study explores the process through which informal caregivers, particularly spouses, construct their identity within the context of caregiving for individuals with dementia. Despite extensive research in psychology aimed at defining caregiving (e.g. tasks, consequences), few informal caregivers identify themselves as such. For instance, the affective bond shared between caregivers and care-recipients often imbues caregiving responsibilities with a sense of "naturalness," especially if the care-recipient is a spouse.

Methods: To investigate the nature of caregiver identity construction, eight semi-structured interviews were conducted with spouse caregivers of dementia patients. The collected data underwent interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA).

Results: Three interconnected themes emerged from the analysis: (1) Perceiving changes in my partner, which involves recognising alterations in the care-receiver's characteristics due to dementia; (2) Processing changes, encompassing the experience of grieving losses and reminiscing about the past; and (3) Perceiving changes in myself, referring to the acknowledgement of personal changes due to caregiving.

Conclusion: The study emphasises the dynamic and ongoing nature of caregiver identity construction, which begins with the early recognition of changes in the care-receiver. Interestingly, spouse caregivers oscillate between their identity as a spouse and caregiver, influenced by how they process changes undergone by their partner. Contrasting with previous theories on caregivers' identity, our results focus of caregivers' perceptions rather than their relationship with the care-recipient or caregiving tasks.

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"他在变,但我也在变":对痴呆症背景下配偶照顾者身份的解释性现象学分析。
研究目的本研究探讨了非正式照护者(尤其是配偶)在照护痴呆症患者的过程中构建其身份认同的过程。尽管心理学界对护理工作(如任务、后果)的定义进行了广泛的研究,但很少有非正式护理人员将自己认定为护理人员。例如,照护者和受照护者之间的情感纽带通常会使照护责任充满 "自然感",尤其是当受照护者是其配偶时:为了研究照护者身份建构的本质,我们对痴呆症患者的配偶照护者进行了八次半结构式访谈。对收集到的数据进行了解释现象学分析(IPA):分析得出了三个相互关联的主题:(1) 感知伴侣的变化,包括认识到痴呆症导致的照顾者特征的改变;(2) 处理变化,包括对失去伴侣感到悲伤和回忆过去的经历;(3) 感知自己的变化,指认识到因照顾而导致的个人变化:本研究强调了照护者身份建构的动态性和持续性,这种建构始于对照护接受者变化的早期认识。有趣的是,配偶照护者在其配偶身份和照护者身份之间摇摆不定,这受到他们如何处理其伴侣所经历的变化的影响。与以往关于照顾者身份认同的理论不同,我们的研究结果侧重于照顾者的看法,而不是他们与受照顾者或照顾任务之间的关系。
本文章由计算机程序翻译,如有差异,请以英文原文为准。
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来源期刊
CiteScore
4.60
自引率
5.30%
发文量
71
期刊介绍: Scandinavian Journal of Caring Sciences is an established quarterly, peer reviewed Journal with an outstanding international reputation. As the official publication of the Nordic College of Caring Science, the Journal shares their mission to contribute to the development and advancement of scientific knowledge on caring related to health, well-being, illness and the alleviation of human suffering. The emphasis is on research that has a patient, family and community focus and which promotes an interdisciplinary team approach. Of special interest are scholarly articles addressing and initiating dialogue on theoretical, empirical and methodological concerns related to critical issues. All articles are expected to demonstrate respect for human dignity and accountability to society. In addition to original research the Journal also publishes reviews, meta-syntheses and meta-analyses.
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