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Older Adult Spouses with Multiple Chronic Conditions: Challenges, Rewards, and Coping Strategies

There is a paucity of research exploring how spouses to older adults with multiple chronic conditions make meaning of their caregiving experience. For this study, we asked: What is the experience of spousal caregivers to persons with multiple chronic conditions? We applied Thorne's interpretive description approach, interviewing 18 spouses who provided a rich description of their caregiving experience; interviews were transcribed verbatim and thematically analysed.

Mon, 04/08/2019 - 16:14

Stakeholder Meeting: Integrated Knowledge Translation Approach to Address the Caregiver Support Gap

Family caregivers are an integral and increasingly overburdened part of the health care system. There is a gap between what research evidence shows is beneficial to caregivers and what is actually provided. Using an integrated knowledge translation approach, a stakeholder meeting was held among researchers, family caregivers, caregiver associations, clinicians, health care administrators, and policy makers.

Mon, 04/08/2019 - 15:32

Business Should Embrace Paid Caregiver Leave

Professional services firm Deloitte made headlines last year when it unveiled its plan, offering employees up to 16 weeks of paid time off per year to look after a parent or family member as well as for the birth or adoption of a child. AARP also introduced a program under which its full- and part-time employees may request up to two regularly scheduled workweeks of paid time off per calendar year to assist a family member who is ill or needs physical or medical assistance. LĪ] Scott Frisch is executive vice president and chief operating officer at AARP in Washington, D.C.

Mon, 04/08/2019 - 15:01

Reconciling Marriage and Care after Stroke

Most research on stroke's impact on couples has focused on the transition to caregiving/receiving. Despite considerable evidence that marriage is the primary source of support in the face of chronic conditions, little is known about what happens to marriage in the context of care after stroke. To address this gap, we undertook a qualitative grounded-theory study of 18 couples in which one partner had experienced a stroke.

Mon, 04/08/2019 - 14:09

Dementia and Migration: Family Care Patterns Merging With Public Care Services

This article focuses on cognitive impairment and dementia in the context of transnational migration. Based on data from focus group discussions and interviews, we conclude that to adjust to the needs of care within ethnic-minority communities, it is important to consider not only the availability of household and kin members but also the present understanding of obligation and reciprocity underlying the perception of care.

Fri, 04/05/2019 - 09:38

The Changing Nature of Guilt in Family Caregivers: Living Through Care Transitions of Parents at the End of Life

Older adults cared for at home by family members at the end of life are at risk for care transitions to residential and institutional care settings. These transitions are emotionally distressing and fraught with suffering for both families and the older adult. A theoretical model titled "The Changing Nature of Guilt in Family Caregivers: Living Through Care Transitions of Parents at the End of Life" was developed using the method of grounded theory. When a dying parent cannot remain at home to die, family members experience guilt throughout the transition process.

Thu, 03/28/2019 - 12:22

"There isn't an easy way of finding the help that's available." Barriers and facilitators of service use among dementia family caregivers: a qualitative study

Background: Family caregivers of people with dementia have significant unmet needs in regard to their caregiving role. Despite this, they are reluctant to utilize services to reduce their burden. The aim of this study was to examine the barriers and facilitators of service use among family caregivers of people with dementia. Method: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 24 family caregivers of community-dwelling people with dementia. Of these, 12 were partner caregivers (4 men, 8 women) and 12 were offspring caregivers (2 men, 10 women).

Thu, 03/28/2019 - 12:09

The Experience of Parenting a Child With Disability in Old Age

There are growing numbers of older parents providing ongoing care for adults with disabilities. A parent's aging calls for a redefinition of parental care practices and roles in light of his or her own changing needs. The current study aims to highlight the ways in which aging parents perceive and construct their parental role to adult children with disabilities at this point in their lives. An interpretive phenomenological analysis perspective was used.

Fri, 03/22/2019 - 19:15

Planning for Future Care and the End of Life: A Qualitative Analysis of Gay, Lesbian, and Heterosexual Couples

Two key components of end-of-life planning are (1) informal discussions about future care and other end-of-life preferences and (2) formal planning via living wills and other legal documents. We leverage previous work on the institutional aspects of marriage and on sexual-minority discrimination to theorize why and how heterosexual, gay, and lesbian married couples engage in informal and formal end-of-life planning. We analyze qualitative dyadic in-depth interviews with 45 midlife gay, lesbian, and heterosexual married couples (N = 90 spouses).

Fri, 03/22/2019 - 12:19