Abstract
Respite care in the form of day care is one of the several respite services that aims to provide temporary relief to informal caregivers from their responsibilities of caring for a person with dementia. The purpose of this study was to illuminate the meaning of being an informal caregiver for a person with dementia living at home and receiving day care services. Narrative interviews were conducted, and data were analyzed using the phenomenological hermeneutic method. Two main themes emerged: “Living with limitations in everyday life” and “Having a life besides being a caregiver”. The comprehensive understanding suggested living with a person with dementia, changes and influences the informal caregiver’s life through a set of new roles and a new way of living and thinking. The result is discussed in light of Goffman’s analysis of the structures of social encounters from the perspective of the dramatic performance.
Highlights
Dementia is a progressive condition, meaning that people affected will increasingly develop loss of function and, How to cite this paper: Myren, G.E.S., Enmarker, I., Saur, E. and Hellzen, O. (2015) “Being Free Like a Bird”―The Meaning of Being an Informal Caregiver for Persons with Dementia Who Are Receiving Day Care Services
This was an inductive qualitative study where informal caregivers were interviewed about their experiences of receiving day care services for persons with dementia living at home
The narratives revealed that the informal caregivers struggle to balance their own needs for free time with their needs to care for the person with dementia
Summary
Dementia is a progressive condition, meaning that people affected will increasingly develop loss of function and, How to cite this paper: Myren, G.E.S., Enmarker, I., Saur, E. and Hellzen, O. (2015) “Being Free Like a Bird”―The Meaning of Being an Informal Caregiver for Persons with Dementia Who Are Receiving Day Care Services. The most-common unmet needs reported by both persons with dementia and informal caregivers are lack of company, psychological distress, and lack of daytime activities [8] [9]. To address this problem, respite care in the form of day care is one of the several respite services that aims to provide temporary relief to informal caregivers from their responsibilities of caring for a person with dementia [10]. The aim of this study was to illuminate the meaning of being an informal caregiver for a person with dementia living at home, receiving day care services
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