Abstract
Background:Previous research describes spouses and adult children of people with dementia as a homogeneous group using one term: family caregivers. Recent research shows that the needs and experiences of spouses and adult children differ, therefore they cannot be studied as a homogeneous group.Aims:The aim of the study was to describe the shift in existential life situations of adult children of a parent with dementia relocated to nursing homes.Design:This is a qualitative study with an interpretive approach.Methods:Face-to-face interviews were held with 11 adult children aged 48-65 years. The interviews lasted 30–60 minutes and data were analysed using interpretive content analysis.Findings:The adult children described how they experienced their life situation before and after their parents’ relocation. Before relocation they described feelings of powerlessness, loneliness in their responsibilities, loss and guilt. After relocation they had feelings of freedom, ongoing responsibility, living with loss and having a new relationship with death.Conclusion:The most important finding in our study was that adult children developed a different relationship with death than before the parent became affected by dementia. It is essential that healthcare staff understand and address the adult children’s existential life situations and the suffering they are experiencing. Healthcare staff need to be conscious about adult children’s needs for support to address their existential life situations before and after their parents relocate to nursing homes.
Highlights
Previous research has described the spouses and adult children of people1874-4346/16 2016 Bentham OpenThe Shift in Existential Life Situation of Adult to Parents with DementiaThe Open Nursing Journal, 2016, Volume 10 123 with dementia as a homogeneous group using one term: family caregivers
A qualitative method was used to achieve an understanding about the perceptions of adult children to a parent with dementia living in a nursing home in relation to their life situation
This study provides a picture of adult children’s existential life situations before and after the relocation to a nursing home of their parents affected by dementia
Summary
The Open Nursing Journal, 2016, Volume 10 123 with dementia as a homogeneous group using one term: family caregivers This is problematic as recent research has found that their needs and experiences differ, for example, their needs for social support and assistance [1], and that adult children have greater levels of burden [2] than spouses. The quality of support and need of help from social networks differ between spouses and adult children [4] This may be related to how the impact is much more acute on adult children’s daily lives when caring for the parent with dementia as they have added difficulties such as juggling caring for their own family and working at the same time [5, 10]. Being a daughter or a son to a parent with dementia is described as a positive experience, as it allows them to spend and enjoy more time together and be close and appreciate each other, resulting in decreased feelings of distress [12]
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