Khalid Norfaezah Md, Sajali Nurul Salwa, Razali Asbah
Department of Educational Psychology and Counseling, Faculty of Education, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Department of Anthropology and Sociology, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Belitung Nurs J. 2025 Aug 3;11(4):413-422. doi: 10.33546/bnj.3896. eCollection 2025.
Family caregivers play a crucial role in providing continuous support to individuals with chronic illnesses. Their responsibilities extend beyond the well-being of patients, influencing both patient health outcomes and their own. Caregiving entails significant responsibilities and sacrifices, requiring caregivers to navigate evolving roles and care needs over time. Existing literature highlights the emotional and psychological challenges faced by caregivers, including role transitions and stress. However, most studies focus on caregiving experiences rather than the specific transitional phases caregivers undergo after assuming their responsibilities.
This study aimed to explore the transitional phases experienced by caregivers of chronically ill patients using an inductive approach, specifically grounded theory methodology.
This study employed a grounded theory (GT) approach involving 33 participants, including 24 caregivers and nine professional helpers. Data collection and analysis were carried out between April 2022 and January 2024. Participants were recruited through snowball sampling based on predetermined criteria. Data were collected using semi-structured interviews and memos and analyzed using NVivo 12 software. Several measures were undertaken to ensure the validity and reliability of the data.
Findings yielded five stages of life transition, namely, (1) confusion, (2) conflict, (3) consideration, (4) adjustment, and (5) acceptance.
This study contributes to the literature by providing new insight into the life transition phases experienced by family caregivers. It offers meaningful implications for nursing practice, particularly in providing holistic support to family caregivers of individuals with chronic illness. It helps nurses to design more targeted, phase-specific interventions that focus on caregivers' psychosocial needs at each phase. The final model provides a beneficial premise for the development of clinical guidelines and support frameworks that are more responsive to the real experiences of caregivers.
家庭照顾者在为慢性病患者提供持续支持方面发挥着至关重要的作用。他们的责任不仅关乎患者的福祉，还会影响患者的健康结局以及自身的情况。照顾工作需要承担重大责任并做出牺牲，这要求照顾者随着时间的推移应对不断变化的角色和护理需求。现有文献强调了照顾者所面临的情感和心理挑战，包括角色转变和压力。然而，大多数研究关注的是照顾经历，而非照顾者承担责任后所经历的具体过渡阶段。
本研究旨在采用归纳法，特别是扎根理论方法，探索慢性病患者照顾者所经历的过渡阶段。
本研究采用扎根理论（GT）方法，涉及33名参与者，包括24名照顾者和9名专业辅助人员。数据收集和分析在2022年4月至2024年1月期间进行。根据预定标准通过滚雪球抽样招募参与者。使用半结构化访谈和备忘录收集数据，并使用NVivo 12软件进行分析。采取了多项措施以确保数据的有效性和可靠性。
研究结果得出了五个生活过渡阶段，即：（1）困惑，（2）冲突，（3）思考，（4）调整，以及（5）接受。
本研究通过对家庭照顾者所经历的生活过渡阶段提供新的见解，为该领域的文献做出了贡献。它对护理实践具有重要意义，特别是在为慢性病患者的家庭照顾者提供全面支持方面。它有助于护士设计更具针对性、针对特定阶段的干预措施，这些措施关注每个阶段照顾者的心理社会需求。最终模型为制定更能响应照顾者实际经历的临床指南和支持框架提供了有益的前提。
