The experiences of caring for disabled older adults in long-term: A qualitative study from the perspective of spousal caregivers.

IF 1.8 4区医学 Q3 HEALTH CARE SCIENCES & SERVICES

Chronic Illness Pub Date : 2023-12-01 Epub Date: 2023-01-03 DOI:10.1177/17423953221148972

Lingli Yang, Wei Wei, Yanni Wu, Shunfang Zhu, Xiaoli Zeng, Run Wang, Mi Zhang, Xiaolu Lin, Chunlan Zhou

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Objective: To explore the care experiences of spouses as long-term and primary caregivers for disabled older adults in China.

Methods: A descriptive phenomenological method was used in this study, as well as purposive and convenient sampling. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 15 spousal caregivers in Guangdong, China, from March to December 2021. Interview audio-recordings were transcribed verbatim and data were analyzed using Colaizzi's phenomenological analysis method.

Results: We identified four themes from the data: spousal care motivation; sacrifices in caregiving; obstacles in caregiving; spousal caregivers' positive experiences.

Conclusions: Spouses took responsibility for providing care for their disabled partners regardless of their willingness. They had positive experiences while providing care, but negative experiences were dominant, especially for spouses of severely disabled older adults. Spouses are always perfect in caregiving roles, although they may also need medical assistance. To prevent a decline in spousal caregivers' quality of life and relieve their care burdens, health care providers should support them as soon as possible or offer formal care for disabled older adults. It is necessary to intervene considering disabled older adults and their spousal caregivers as a unit to empower their confidence in coping with life together.

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残障长者长期照护经验:配偶照护者视角之质性研究。

目的:探讨配偶作为残疾老年人长期和主要照顾者的护理经验。方法:本研究采用描述现象学方法，目的明确，抽样方便。从2021年3月至12月，在中国广东对15名配偶照顾者进行了半结构化访谈。访谈录音逐字抄录，资料采用Colaizzi现象学分析方法进行分析。结果:我们从数据中确定了四个主题:配偶照顾动机;照顾方面的牺牲;护理方面的障碍;配偶照顾者的积极体验。结论:无论配偶是否愿意，他们都承担起照顾残疾伴侣的责任。他们在提供照顾时有积极的经历，但消极的经历占主导地位，尤其是对严重残疾的老年人的配偶。配偶总是完美的照顾角色，尽管他们也可能需要医疗援助。为了防止配偶照顾者的生活质量下降并减轻其照顾负担，卫生保健提供者应尽快为他们提供支助或为残疾老年人提供正式照顾。有必要将残疾老年人及其配偶照顾者作为一个单位进行干预，以增强他们共同应对生活的信心。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Chronic Illness Multiple-

CiteScore

3.80

自引率

0.00%

发文量

期刊介绍： Chronic illnesses are prolonged, do not resolve spontaneously, and are rarely completely cured. The most common are cardiovascular diseases (hypertension, coronary artery disease, stroke and heart failure), the arthritides, asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, diabetes and epilepsy. There is increasing evidence that mental illnesses such as depression are best understood as chronic health problems. HIV/AIDS has become a chronic condition in those countries where effective medication is available.