Department of Primary and Community Care, Radboud Institute for Health Sciences, Radboud Alzheimer Center, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, the Netherlands.
Department of Primary and Community Care, Radboud Institute for Health Sciences, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, the Netherlands.
BMC Geriatr. 2022 Mar 16;22(1):212. doi: 10.1186/s12877-022-02922-x.
Social interactions are important for people living with dementia in a nursing home. However, not much is known about interactions and relationships between residents and family caregivers and related experiences of family caregivers. We aim to advance the knowledge on how family caregivers interact with people living with dementia in a nursing home and how they maintain or redesign a meaningful connection.
Qualitative research using interviews with family caregivers (n = 31) to explore perspectives on their interaction and relationship with the person living with dementia. Interviews were held during the reopening of nursing homes after the first COVID-19 lockdown in the Netherlands. In this situation, family caregivers became more aware of their interaction and relationship with the resident, which provided a unique opportunity to reflect on this. The interviews explored the interaction and relationship in a broad sense, not specifically for the COVID-19 situation. Thematic analysis was performed to analyze the data.
We were able to identify three key themes reflecting the experiences of family caregivers: (1) changes in the interaction and relationship, (2) strategies to promote connection, and (3) appreciation of the interaction and relationship. From the viewpoint of family caregivers, the interaction and relationship are important for both the resident living with dementia and for themselves, and family caregivers have different strategies for establishing a meaningful connection. Nevertheless, some appear to experience difficulties with constructing such a connection with the resident.
Our results provide a basis for supporting family caregivers in perceiving and establishing mutuality and reciprocity so that they can experience togetherness.
社交互动对于居住在养老院中的痴呆症患者非常重要。然而，对于居民和家庭护理者之间的互动和关系以及家庭护理者的相关体验，我们知之甚少。我们旨在增进对家庭护理者如何与养老院中的痴呆症患者进行互动以及如何维持或重新设计有意义的联系的了解。
使用与家庭护理者（n=31）的访谈进行定性研究，以探讨他们与患有痴呆症的人互动和建立关系的观点。访谈是在荷兰首次 COVID-19 封锁后养老院重新开放期间进行的。在这种情况下，家庭护理者更加意识到他们与居民的互动和关系，这为他们提供了一个独特的机会来反思这一点。访谈从广义上探讨了互动和关系，而不是专门针对 COVID-19 情况。采用主题分析来分析数据。
我们能够确定三个反映家庭护理者体验的关键主题：（1）互动和关系的变化，（2）促进联系的策略，以及（3）对互动和关系的欣赏。从家庭护理者的角度来看，互动和关系对患有痴呆症的居民和他们自己都很重要，家庭护理者有不同的策略来建立有意义的联系。然而，一些人似乎在与居民建立这种联系方面遇到困难。
我们的研究结果为支持家庭护理者感知和建立互惠关系提供了基础，以便他们能够体验到共同的存在。
