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Centre for Policy on Ageing | |
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| Growing and gaining through caring for a loved one with dementia | | Author(s) | Nicholas Raphael Netto, Goh Yen Ni Jenny, Yap Lin Kiat Philip |
| Journal title | Dementia: the international journal of social research and practice, vol 8, no 2, May 2009 |
| Pages | pp 245-262 |
| Source | http://www.dem.sagepub.com |
| Keywords | Informal care ; Attitude ; Personal relationships ; Spiritual characteristics [elderly] ; Stress ; Qualitative Studies ; Singapore. |
| Annotation | The research reported in this article supports a shift from the conventional focus on burden, to a more holistic approach that considers how caregivers can grow and emerge stronger from the. caregiver experience. 12 respondents were recruited using purposive sampling from three institutions around Singapore. A qualitative design, guided by the grounded theory approach, was adopted. Semi-structured, in-depth, face-to-face interviews were conducted with the caregivers, who reported having gained from caregiving. The most common gain was that of "personal growth" which comprised being more patient or understanding, becoming stronger or more resilient, having increased self-awareness, and being more knowledgeable. Another theme was "gains in relationships", whereby caregivers experienced an improvement in their relationship with the care recipient, with others in the family or in their ability to interact with other older people. The third gain experienced was that of "higher level gains", encompassing gains in spirituality, deepened relations with God, and a more enlightened perspective in life. This research has implications in the design and delivery of services, as utilising these gains as a coping resource may enable better support for caregivers. It is pertinent that professionals supporting caregivers internalise the perspective of gains so that it becomes a natural way of seeing their clients, and in the process help caregivers find meaning and enrichment in their caregiving journey. (RH) |
| Accession Number | CPA-090702205 A |
| Classmark | P6: DP: DS: EX: QNH: 3DP: 7XD |
Data © Centre for Policy on Ageing |
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| ...from the Ageinfo database published by Centre for Policy on Ageing. |
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