PhD, RN, Senior Assistant Professor, Faculty of Medicine, School of Nursing, Fukuoka University, Fukuoka, Japan.
PhD, RN, Professor, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Department of Health Sciences, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan.
J Nurs Res. 2021 Apr 9;29(3):e155. doi: 10.1097/JNR.0000000000000430.
Family caregivers of people with dementia (PWDs) experience significant physical, psychological, and social burdens. Empowerment, which refers to the process of gaining power in society through behavioral change, is important to coping successfully with care-related burdens. The high burden of care faced by family caregivers in Japan often makes accepting social support difficult for caregivers of PWDs, resulting in feelings of isolation. Clarifying what components constitute empowering experiences for family caregivers of PWDs is necessary to gain a better understanding of their empowerment experiences and to develop relevant support schemes.
This study was developed to describe the components of empowerment experienced by family caregivers of community-dwelling PWDs in Japan.
This qualitative descriptive study used semistructured in-depth interviews to explore components of empowerment experienced by family caregivers of adults/older adults with dementia. Purposive sampling was used to recruit 20 family caregivers (age range: 50-87 years) from four self-help groups. A qualitative content analysis method was used to analyze the data. The components derived from the interviews were reviewed by three nursing researchers not directly involved in this study who are specialists in qualitative research and geriatric nursing.
Four categories and 12 subcategories were derived to illuminate the components of empowerment among family caregivers of PWDs. Specifically, these categories were as follows: (a) proactive aspects of dementia care that were acquired through the caregiving experience, (b) creating a relationship that respects PWDs, (c) Building relationships based on mutual understanding of one's surroundings, and (d) understanding the social aspects of dementia care.
CONCLUSIONS/IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: The findings of this study provide additional understanding of the components of the empowerment experiences of family caregivers of PWDs in Japan and in other East Asian countries experiencing increasing dementia diagnoses and population aging. In addition, the structural components of empowerment offer a useful perspective for health professionals on assessment and intervention that is framed on the cultural characteristics of East Asia. Ultimately, the results suggest that healthcare professionals should develop intervention programs that are tailored to the needs of caregivers at different levels of empowerment.
痴呆症患者（PWDs）的家庭照顾者承受着巨大的身体、心理和社会负担。赋权是指通过行为改变在社会中获得权力的过程，对于成功应对与照顾相关的负担至关重要。日本的家庭照顾者面临着沉重的照顾负担，这使得 PWD 照顾者难以接受社会支持，导致他们感到孤立。阐明构成 PWD 家庭照顾者赋权体验的组成部分对于更好地理解他们的赋权体验并制定相关支持计划是必要的。
本研究旨在描述日本社区居住的 PWD 家庭照顾者的赋权体验的组成部分。
本定性描述研究使用半结构式深入访谈来探索成年/老年痴呆症患者家庭照顾者的赋权体验组成部分。采用目的性抽样方法，从四个自助小组中招募了 20 名家庭照顾者（年龄范围：50-87 岁）。使用定性内容分析法对数据进行分析。访谈中得出的组成部分由三位与本研究无关的、专门从事定性研究和老年护理的护理研究人员进行了审查。
得出了四个类别和 12 个子类别，阐明了 PWD 家庭照顾者赋权的组成部分。具体而言，这些类别包括：（a）通过照顾经验获得的积极主动的痴呆症护理方面，（b）尊重 PWD 的关系，（c）基于对周围环境的相互理解建立关系，以及（d）了解痴呆症护理的社会方面。
结论/对实践的影响：这项研究的结果提供了对日本和其他东亚国家 PWD 家庭照顾者赋权体验组成部分的更多理解，这些国家正在经历痴呆症诊断和人口老龄化的增加。此外，赋权的结构组成部分为东亚文化特征框架下的健康专业人员提供了评估和干预的有用视角。最终，研究结果表明，医疗保健专业人员应该制定针对不同赋权水平的照顾者需求的干预计划。
