Seiger Cronfalk Berit, Ternestedt Britt-Marie, Norberg Astrid
Department of Health Care Sciences and Palliative Research Centre, Ersta Sköndal Bräcke University College, Stockholm, Sweden.
Division of Nursing, Department of Neurobiology, Care Sciences and Society, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
J Clin Nurs. 2017 Nov;26(21-22):3519-3528. doi: 10.1111/jocn.13718. Epub 2017 Feb 20.
To illuminate how family members of persons with dementia describe their own experiences, before and after placing their relative in a nursing home.
In the Western world and with a growing population of older people, the number of persons with dementia increases. Family members often become carers in their own homes creating stressful and exhausting situation that eventually leads to relocating the person to a nursing home. This may lead to troubled conscience among family members.
This is a qualitative study with descriptive design based on interviews with ten family members to residents with dementia at one small nursing home ward. Data were analysed using content analysis.
Five categories were derived from data: relocating a person with dementia - a responsibility; visiting the resident - a relief or a burden; the participants taking part in and monitoring the residents' care needs; participants meeting their own needs; and thoughts about the future and resident's death. The result shows both positive and negative aspects of being a family member to persons with dementia. Family members described feeling relief as well as having a troubled conscience when placing a relative in a nursing home. They held themselves responsible for monitoring and evaluating the quality of the care. Family members expressed fearing a slow death for the person with dementia as well as for their own sake. Most felt well treated by the staff.
Family members were responsible for relocating the residents to the nursing home. This in itself was found to cause feelings of moral concerns and generating troubled conscience.
Staff at nursing homes needs to exercise family-centred care to benefit the persons with dementia, their family members and the staff themselves.
阐明痴呆症患者的家庭成员如何描述在将亲属送入养老院前后他们自己的经历。
在西方世界，随着老年人口的增加，痴呆症患者的数量也在上升。家庭成员常常在自己家中成为照顾者，营造出压力巨大且令人疲惫不堪的状况，最终导致将患者转移至养老院。这可能会使家庭成员产生良心上的困扰。
这是一项基于对一家小型养老院病房中十位痴呆症患者家属进行访谈的描述性定性研究。数据采用内容分析法进行分析。
从数据中得出了五个类别：将痴呆症患者转移至养老院——一项责任；探访患者——一种解脱或负担；参与者参与并监督患者的护理需求；参与者满足自身需求；以及对未来和患者死亡的思考。结果显示作为痴呆症患者的家庭成员既有积极方面，也有消极方面。家庭成员描述了在将亲属送入养老院时既感到解脱，又有良心上的困扰。他们认为自己有责任监督和评估护理质量。家庭成员表示既担心痴呆症患者会缓慢死亡，也为自己担心。大多数人觉得工作人员对他们很好。
家庭成员负责将患者转移至养老院。人们发现这本身会引发道德方面的担忧并产生良心上的困扰。
养老院工作人员需要实施以家庭为中心的护理，以使痴呆症患者、他们的家庭成员以及工作人员自身都受益。
