The experience of caregiving for a family member with Alzheimer's disease : a male perspective

Parsons, Karen Ann (1994) The experience of caregiving for a family member with Alzheimer's disease : a male perspective. Masters thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

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Abstract

There is little research in the literature on men as caregivers for a family member with Alzheimer's disease. Most of the previous work has concentrated on the burden or stress related to this type of care and has been done mostly with women. In the present study a phenomenological method was used to investigate the male experience of caregiving for a family member with Alzheimer's disease. -- Eight men, five spouses and three sons were interviewed in order to find out what their experiences were like. From the analysis of the interview data nine themes were identified. The themes were (a) enduring, (b) vigilance, (c) a sense of loss, (d) aloneness and loneliness, (e) taking away, (f) searching to discover, (g) the need for assistance, and (h) reciprocity. An additional theme was identified from the experience of the son caregivers: (i) overstepping the normal boundaries. The themes were not isolated, but were interrelated to form a whole that captured the experience of caregiving for the male caregivers. The significance or essence of the experience was the disease itself, without which the caregiving experience could not have been what it was. Implications for nursing practice, nursing education and nursing research are discussed.

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