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KMID : 0379220070270040963
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Journal of Korea Gerontological Society
2007 Volume.27 No. 4 p.963 ~ p.986
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Understanding family caregivers` experiences of Living with dementia: a transcendental phenomenological inquiry
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Kim Yu-Jin
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Abstract
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This transcendental phenomenological study was conducted in an effort to understanding of the experiences of caregiving from the perspective of caregivers in Korean-American families. Interviews with ten primary caregivers of elderly patients with Alzheimer’s disease and vascular dementia were analyzed with the systematic procedure of Moustakas’(1994) modification of the Van Kaam method. The findings revealed that caregiving had different meanings for each caregiver and the meaning of the experience changed with the progression of the disease within each individual patient. However, there were six core themes that characterized these caregivers’ experiences: (1) understanding about elderly patients with AD
by accepting AD as a disease, (2) self-definition & self-appraisal of caregiving, (3) contemplating existential thoughts, (4) polarity of ambivalent feelings, (5) questioning of the transgenerational continuity of filial piety, and (6) different experiences with the formal care system. The findings unveiled how caregivers and families coped with the transition into caregiving both before and after the onset of dementia as well as what caregivers experienced after their patients died, which is useful in developing a stage-specific systematic intervention for family caregivers. Implications for interdisciplinary practice for families with dementia are addressed.
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KEYWORD
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family dementia caregiving, transcendental phenomenological research, insider perspective, interdisciplinary practice
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