Backround: Dementia is a common disease that affects approximately 25,000 people annually in Sweden. It consists of several different diseases with varying symptoms that lead to successively impaired memory and cognitive ability. This disease also affects relatives as it is common for the person to initially be cared for by a relative at home. Healthcare professionals and people with dementia acknowledge the challenges that relatives face as family caregivers. Aim: The aim was to describe relatives’ experiences of caring for persons with dementia. Method: This study has been carried out as a general literature review. Eight articles with qualitative approach, two articles with quantitative approach and one article with mixed method have been used. Results: In the results three themes were identified about relatives’ experiences, these were changed roles, uncertainty and coping strategies. Conclusion: Through the progression of dementia, relatives experienced changes in their own role, the role of the person with dementia, and in the relationship. This led to a feeling of uncertainty in the caring role, and thus developed different coping strategies to deal with everyday life. Through support for relatives, the burden that the caring role entails can be reduced and care for relatives can be improved to reach the balance of self-care. Increased focus on relative caregivers would make the work of healthcare professionals more efficient and successful.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:mdh-66254 |
| Date | January 2024 |
| Creators | Ekroos, Alma, Ekman Ladru, Stella |
| Publisher | Mälardalens universitet, Akademin för hälsa, vård och välfärd |
| Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
| Language | Swedish |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Student thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
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