Human Science Research Council, Population Health, Health Systems & Innovation, Cape Town, South Africa.
Psychol Health Med. 2011 Mar;16(2):190-202. doi: 10.1080/13548506.2010.525656.
The article describes the caregiving responsibility to provide food for chronically ill family members and the meanings attached to food and eating when ill created stress for family caregivers. The results come from a qualitative phenomenological study using in-depth interviews with 21 family caregivers of chronically ill HIV and AIDS patients in one district in Lesotho. Analysis of the interview data showed that the caregivers attached profound meanings to food and feeding care recipients. Their perceptions about food as part of family life and caring, the role of food and eating in curbing disease progression, the link between food and medical efficacy and the link between food and life led to ritualized behaviour around food, and moments of optimism and anguish in caregiving. Patients' behaviour in relation to food was in most instances inconsistent with the caregivers' goals, thus leading this aspect of caregiving to induce stress. Services intended to support home-based caregivers and patients could contribute to the reduction of stress associated with food through suitably tailored food assistance and professional support to caregivers to enhance their competences and understanding of the dynamics of food intake as AIDS progressed.
这篇文章描述了照顾者为慢性疾病患者提供食物的责任，以及当患者生病时，食物和进食所带来的意义会给家庭照顾者带来压力。研究结果来自于对莱索托一个地区 21 名慢性艾滋病毒/艾滋病患者家庭照顾者的深入访谈的定性现象学研究。对访谈数据的分析表明，照顾者对食物和喂养接受者赋予了深刻的意义。他们认为食物是家庭生活和照顾的一部分，食物和进食在遏制疾病进展中的作用，食物与医疗效果之间的联系以及食物与生命之间的联系，导致了围绕食物的仪式化行为，以及在照顾过程中出现的乐观和痛苦时刻。患者的食物行为在大多数情况下与照顾者的目标不一致，因此导致这方面的照顾会带来压力。旨在支持居家照顾者和患者的服务可以通过适当调整的食物援助和对照顾者的专业支持来减少与食物相关的压力，以增强他们的能力和对艾滋病进展过程中食物摄入动态的理解。
