Danish University Colleges
The meaningfulness of participating in support groups for informal caregivers of older adults with dementia
Lauritzen, Jette; Pedersen, Preben Ulrich; Bjerrum, Merete Bender
Publication date:
2014
Link to publication
Citation for pulished version (APA):
Lauritzen, J., Pedersen, P. U., & Bjerrum, M. B. (2014). The meaningfulness of participating in support groups for informal caregivers of older adults with dementia. Poster session presented at PHD Day Health, Aarhus, Denmark.
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Download date: 19. Sep. 2022
The meaningfulness of parTicipaTing in sup-
porT groups for informal caregivers of older adulTs wiTh demenTia
J. lauritzen1, p. u. pedersen 2, m. B. Bjerrum 3.
1 department of public health, section for nursing, aarhus university and department for nursing, aarhus, via university college.
2 department of health science and Technology, faculty of medicine, aalborg university.
3 department of public health, section for nursing, aarhus university.
Background:
Dementia mainly affects older people over 65 years and causes progressive, irreversible cognitive deterioration with behavioral disturbances, impaired judgment and disorien- tation, loss of memory, language and the ability to perform basic daily life activities. As the disabilities and care needs of the older adult with dementia increase over time, the in- formal caregivers play a key role in the delivery of the health- care worldwide. Informal caregivers are defined as mainly family members, who provide unpaid care for a relative with a chronic disease such as dementia, predominantly in their own home. Informal caregivers perform care-related tasks around-the-clock. While the positive aspects of care, such as fulfilment and companionship should not be overlooked, informal caregivers, often family members, experience mul- tiple negative consequences when performing the care-re- lated tasks 24/7 for older adults with dementia at home.
The consequences, such as the perception of taking on a stressful responsibility that eventually will lead to a mean- ingless existence, depression, stress, anxiety and fatigue, are all identified risk factors for premature death among in- formal caregivers. These multiple challenges are often re- ferred to as “the caregiver’s burden”.
The Public Health Care Systems in western counties consid- er support groups for informal caregivers to be an effective and economical way to relieve the caregivers’ stress and burden. The groups focus on building sympathetic relations among participants in order to discuss problems and tri- umphs, and their feelings about care giving; education is not the primary focus. A study reports that support groups are beneficial, but that there are no significant improvements in the feelings of burden for the support group participants. It is unclear if or how participating in support groups produc- es a meaningful outcome for the informal caregivers.
Aim: To explore how informal caregivers in urban and ru- ral settings, perceive the meaningfulness of participating in support groups as a means to release stress and to ease the transition of the afflicted partner to respite care.
Method: The aim will be explored in three studies; I. A me- ta-synthesis will be produced based on a peer-reviewed protocol. II. Ethnographic participant observation studies of support group meetings in rural and urban settings. III.
Semi-structured individual interviews of informal caregivers in rural and urban settings. Content analyses based on the ICF model are performed on the qualitative data in both study II and study III
Perspectives: The results of this project will be used in ed- ucational settings, presented at national and international conferences, and disseminated in three articles in interna- tional scientific journa
