A Study on Life Courses and Dilemmas of Family Carer of Patients with Dementia
Abstract
This study was to explore the life courses and dilemma of family carers for dementia patients. In the study, the qualitative research was utilized to investigate 6 female carers whose age ranged from 46 to 68 years old. The purposes of research: 1. To explore the life courses of family carers for dementia patients；2. Via the discussion on the health situation, symptoms and behaviors of dementia patients, straits and needs of their family carers were explored；3. To reveal the coping strategies of dilemma and need of family carers.
Research participants were baby boomers which their social context has been through from the era of ‘economic booming’ to the contemporary ‘aging society with declining birthrate’ in Taiwan. This unbalanced population structure has also affected the traditional family structures. Stem families were taken place by nuclear families basically. Under the same social context they faced, we believed that their life courses could be diverse from their life experiences, family background, social relation, education, work experience and economic capacity. Therefore, their life courses, strait of coping strategies may be also different because of the interaction effects between human behavior and its environment.
Research findings: Life courses of family carer for dementia patients were different although participants were at the same cohort of baby boomers; 2. Similar behaviors and psychological symptoms of people with dementia were identified. 3. The natures of loading and dilemmas of their family carers were also explored. 4. Multiple coping strategies of traits and needs of their family carers were revealed. Suggestions were recommended in terms of family level, community level and policies levels in the final section.
