Institutionalized elders with dementia: collaboration between family caregivers and nursing home staff in Taiwan.
OBJECTIVE
To explore the process of development of collaborative relationship between family caregivers of institutionalized elders with dementia and nursing home staff in Taiwan.


BACKGROUND
Evidence suggests that family members are continuously involved in the lives of loved ones and have not given up their roles as caregivers after the institutionalization of a family member. Little is known, however, about how family caregivers develop a collaborative relationship with nursing home staff, particularly in Asian countries.


METHODS
Grounded theory methodology was used. Data were collected via interviews and observations from 11 family caregivers of patients who were suffering from dementia and living in an institution for persons with dementia in northern Taiwan. Data were analysed by constant comparative analysis.


RESULTS
Findings revealed that 'institutional social penetration' was the process most used by family caregivers to achieve an harmonious collaborative relationship with the nursing home staff. Institutional social penetration is a dynamic process, which includes three components: self-disclosure, evaluation of care and penetration strategies. Family caregivers, who had developed a 'socially penetrating' relationship with the nursing home staff, were more likely to disclose information in more breadth and depth, to receive positive care evaluations and to adopt multiple effective penetration strategies.


CONCLUSIONS
Institutional social penetration between family caregivers and nursing home staff can sensitize healthcare providers to meet the family's needs during the placement of their loved one and provide a basis for developing intervention strategies.


CONCLUSIONS
Findings of this study may help healthcare providers to understand the ways in which collaborative relationships develop between the families of elders with dementia and nursing home staff. Interventions can be developed to facilitate self-disclosure of both the family members and nursing home staff through timely feedback and familiarising family caregivers with different penetration strategies.
Lau
Wai-Yin Alice
WY
Department of Nursing, Cardinal Tien Hospital, Hsintien, Taipei, Taiwan.
Shyu
Yea-Ing Lotus
YI
Lin
Li-Chan
LC
Yang
Pei-Shan
PS
D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D017028:Caregivers / Q000523:psychology; D003299:Cooperative Behavior; D003704:Dementia / Q000451:nursing*; D005190:Family / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand; D006801:Humans; D007326:Institutionalization; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008960:Models, Psychological; D009735:Nursing Homes / Q000458:organization & administration; D015404:Nursing Methodology Research; D009740:Nursing Staff / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000523:psychology*; D011368:Professional-Family Relations; D011787:Quality of Health Care / Q000458:organization & administration; D012380:Role; D012650:Self Disclosure; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013624:Taiwan