Sun Fei
Arizona State University, USA
Dementia (London). 2014 Nov;13(6):803-18. doi: 10.1177/1471301213485593. Epub 2013 Apr 17.
This study aims to identify caregiving stressors and coping strategies in a sample of family caregivers of persons with dementia living in Shanghai, China.
A sample of 18 family caregivers participated in semi-structured face-to-face interviews. Information regarding caregiver appraisal of caregiving situations, difficulties with care provision, and ways of dealing with stressors were obtained. Thematic analysis was used to assess the interview data.
In addition to stressors directly related to caregiving demands (i.e., burden due to care recipient limitations in physical, cognitive, or behavioral functions), other salient stressors that emerged were role strains, family conflicts, and pressure from the social environment. Yet, caregivers demonstrated resilience by drawing on their coping resources from a variety of sources, including personal experience, family, technology and information, religion, and governmental support.
Specific attention needs to be given to help family caregivers alleviate stress due to family conflicts and pressure from the social environment. Policy formulation and program design needs to build on caregiver strengths to support and empower Chinese families caring for relatives with dementia patients.
本研究旨在确定居住在中国上海的痴呆症患者家庭照顾者样本中的照顾压力源及应对策略。
18名家庭照顾者样本参与了半结构化面对面访谈。获取了关于照顾者对照顾情况的评估、提供照顾的困难以及应对压力源方式的信息。采用主题分析法评估访谈数据。
除了与照顾需求直接相关的压力源（即由于受照顾者身体、认知或行为功能受限而产生的负担）外，出现的其他显著压力源包括角色紧张、家庭冲突和社会环境压力。然而，照顾者通过利用来自各种来源的应对资源展现出了复原力，这些来源包括个人经验、家庭、技术与信息、宗教和政府支持。
需要特别关注帮助家庭照顾者缓解因家庭冲突和社会环境压力而产生的压力。政策制定和项目设计需要基于照顾者的优势，以支持和增强照顾痴呆症患者亲属的中国家庭的能力。
