title: The experience of family carers attending a joint reminiscence group with people with dementia: A thematic analysis.
abstract: Reminiscence therapy has the potential to improve quality of life for people with dementia. In recent years reminiscence groups have extended to include family members, but carers' experience of attending joint sessions is undocumented. This qualitative study explored the experience of 18 family carers attending 'Remembering Yesterday Caring Today' groups. Semi-structured interviews were transcribed and subjected to thematic analysis. Five themes were identified: experiencing carer support; shared experience; expectations (met and unmet), carer perspectives of the person with dementia's experience; and learning and comparing. Family carers' experiences varied, with some experiencing the intervention as entirely positive whereas others had more mixed feelings. Negative aspects included the lack of respite from their relative, the lack of emphasis on their own needs, and experiencing additional stress and guilt through not being able to implement newly acquired skills. These findings may explain the failure of a recent trial of joint reminiscence groups to replicate previous findings of positive benefit. More targeted research within subgroups of carers is required to justify the continued use of joint reminiscence groups in dementia care.
authors.affiliation: Department of Research and Development, North East London NHS Foundation Trust, UK.
authors.forename: Nina
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Melunsky
authors.affiliation: Department of Research and Development, North East London NHS Foundation Trust, UK; Mental Health Sciences Unit, University College London, UK.
authors.forename: Nadia
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Crellin
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of East Anglia, UK.
authors.forename: Emma
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Dudzinski
authors.affiliation: Department of Research and Development, North East London NHS Foundation Trust, UK; Mental Health Sciences Unit, University College London, UK.
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Orrell
authors.affiliation: Department of Research and Development, North East London NHS Foundation Trust, UK; Mental Health Sciences Unit, University College London, UK.
authors.forename: Jennifer
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wenborn
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of East Anglia, UK.
authors.forename: Fiona
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Poland
authors.affiliation: Institute of Medical and Social Care Research, Bangor University, UK.
authors.forename: Bob
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Woods
authors.affiliation: Department of Research and Development, North East London NHS Foundation Trust, UK; Research Department of Clinical, Health & Educational Psychology, University College London, UK g.charlesworth@ucl.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Georgina
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Charlesworth
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D017028:Caregivers / Q000523:psychology*; D003704:Dementia / Q000523:psychology* / Q000628:therapy; D005190:Family / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008297:Male; D008568:Memory; D008875:Middle Aged; D036301:Qualitative Research; D011788:Quality of Life; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic
keywords: RYCT; caregiving; dementia; family carers; psychosocial interventions; reminiscence; thematic analysis