Supporting and sustaining care at home: experiences of adult daughters who support a parent with dementia to remain in their own home

Smith, G. and Rodham, K. (2021) Supporting and sustaining care at home: experiences of adult daughters who support a parent with dementia to remain in their own home. Health & Social Care in the Community. ISSN 0966-0410

[thumbnail of © 2021 The Authors. Health and Social Care in the Community published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.] Text (© 2021 The Authors. Health and Social Care in the Community published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)
Supporting and sustaining care at home. Experiences of adult.pdf - Published Version
Available under License Creative Commons Attribution.

Download (627kB)

Abstract

Supporting a parent with dementia living in their own home is a challenging care issue which has potential for negative physical, emotional and psychosocial impacts. This research explores the experiences of adult daughters who sustain this arrangement as well as managing the competing demands of their lives. Using a qualitative approach, semi-structured interviews were conducted between March and October 2017. Eight adult females in the United Kingdom who were supporting a parent with dementia to remain living in their home were interviewed. Photo-elicitation was used
as an aid to data collection and complemented the use of Thematic Analysis (TA) to analyse verbatim transcripts. Four themes were identified: (a) Impact on identity: impact of the participants' experience on their sense of identity; (b) Continuity and change: relationship redefinition and duality of roles; (c) Stepping up to the challenge: adjustment to and coping with competing demands and ethical dilemmas; and (d) Finding help: ‘It is just a minefield’: experiences of help-seeking and service provision.
This study highlights the experiences and challenges for adult daughters who support a parent with dementia. Ethical dilemmas regarding autonomy and safeguarding concerns figure large along with the competing demands of multiple roles. Service providers should aim to be more proactive in offering timely practical and psychosocial support and guidance to avoid compassion fatigue and acknowledge the valuable unpaid service provided by these ‘women in the middle’.

Publication Type: Articles
Additional Information: This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Uncontrolled Keywords: community dwellers, dementia, informal caregivers, psychosocial impact of caregiving, qualitative
Subjects: B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BF Psychology
H Social Sciences > H Social Sciences (General)
Divisions: Academic Areas > Institute of Education, Social and Life Sciences > Psychology
Depositing User: Karen Rodham
Date Deposited: 15 Oct 2021 10:26
Last Modified: 15 Oct 2021 10:26
URI: https://eprints.chi.ac.uk/id/eprint/6018

Actions (login required)

View Item
View Item
▲ Top

Our address

I’m looking for