Wives giving care to husbands with Alzheimer's disease: a process of interpretive caring.
Wives giving care to spouses with dementia are a particularly vulnerable segment of the caregiving population. In this article a grounded theory study of 20 such wives is described, with their experiences explained as a process of interpretive caring. Wives began the process by either seeing changes in their husbands or recognizing changes in their work. Following this, the wives moved on to a phase of drawing inferences about what they observed and then took over their husbands' roles and responsibilities. These changes prompted the wives to rewrite identities for their husbands that incorporated the dementia and to rewrite identities for themselves to reflect their new roles, abilities, and strengths. Finally, the wives set about constructing a new daily life to sustain both partners. This process is neutral and allows for positive aspects of caring to be considered along with grief and frustration.
University of British Columbia School of Nursing, 2211 Wesbrook Mall, Vancouver, Canada V6T 2B5.
JoAnn
J
Perry
D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000451:nursing* / Q000523:psychology*; D017028:Caregivers / Q000523:psychology*; D017281:Cost of Illness; D004645:Empathy; D005260:Female; D005783:Gender Identity; D006117:Grief; D006701:Home Nursing / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008393:Marriage / Q000523:psychology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D008960:Models, Psychological; D015404:Nursing Methodology Research; D012649:Self Concept; D018454:Spouses / Q000523:psychology*