Nguyen Tran To Tran, Than The Ha Ngoc, Nguyen Tuan Chau, Duong Vu Lan Tuyet, Truong Khoa Tri, Thai Truc Thanh, Schofield Penelope, Nguyen Tuan Anh
Department of Geriatrics, University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.
Department of Geriatrics, Nhan dan Gia Dinh Hospital, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.
Glob Health Action. 2025 Dec;18(1):2526929. doi: 10.1080/16549716.2025.2526929. Epub 2025 Jul 8.
Most people with dementia (PwD) receive home care from their family members. Caring for PwD can be challenging; however, many family caregivers do not receive adequate training. The lack of support, knowledge, and skills in dementia care places significant physical and psychological stress on family caregivers.
This qualitative study explored the challenges faced by family caregivers in providing care for PwD and identified the knowledge and skills they need for effective caregiving roles.
In-depth interviews with 20 family caregivers of PwD were conducted face-to-face using a semi-structured questionnaire at the Department of Geriatrics at Nhan dan Gia Dinh Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City. Data analysis was conducted using inductive content analysis. The interview transcripts were coded by two independent researchers and analyzed thematically.
Six key themes emerged: (1) challenges in daily care; (2) strain from behavioral and sleep disruptions; (3) difficulties in seeking help; (4) personal sacrifices of caregivers; (5) emotional burdens associated with caregiving, including comorbidity concerns of PwD; (6) limited dementia knowledge and essential caregiving skills.
The study highlights the need for targeted interventions in dementia care and underscores the necessity of providing educational and support programs for family carers of people with dementia in Vietnam and other low- and middle-income countries. Effective educational programs should cover dementia knowledge, comorbidity management, help-seeking strategies, caregiver self-care, and caregiving skills while also promoting support resources such as respite care and accessible information platforms.
大多数痴呆症患者（PwD）由其家庭成员提供居家护理。照顾痴呆症患者具有挑战性；然而，许多家庭照顾者并未接受充分的培训。痴呆症护理方面缺乏支持、知识和技能，给家庭照顾者带来了巨大的身心压力。
这项定性研究探讨了家庭照顾者在为痴呆症患者提供护理时所面临的挑战，并确定了他们在有效履行照顾职责时所需的知识和技能。
在胡志明市的南定市立医院老年科，使用半结构化问卷对20名痴呆症患者的家庭照顾者进行了面对面的深入访谈。采用归纳性内容分析法进行数据分析。访谈记录由两名独立研究人员编码，并进行主题分析。
出现了六个关键主题：（1）日常护理中的挑战；（2）行为和睡眠干扰带来的压力；（3）寻求帮助的困难；（4）照顾者的个人牺牲；（5）与照顾相关的情感负担，包括对痴呆症患者合并症的担忧；（6）痴呆症知识和基本照顾技能有限。
该研究强调了在痴呆症护理方面进行有针对性干预的必要性，并强调了为越南及其他低收入和中等收入国家的痴呆症患者家庭照顾者提供教育和支持项目的必要性。有效的教育项目应涵盖痴呆症知识、合并症管理、寻求帮助的策略、照顾者自我护理和照顾技能，同时还应推广诸如喘息护理和可获取信息平台等支持资源。
