RURAL DAUGHTER/DAUGHTER-IN-LAW CAREGIVERS' INTERACTIONAL PATTERNS.
Contributors: University of Minnesota.
Published: 1995
Number of pages: 180
Subjects: Health Sciences, Nursing.; Psychology, Social.; Sociology, Individual and Family Studies.
Description: Daughters/daughters-in-law who care for a parent with a dementing illness at home are at risk for physical, psychological, and social problems. Also, their parent care recipient runs a higher risk of institutionalization, In order to intervene in this dynamic, a multidimensional, subjective perspective is required. However, literature is sparse regarding a multidimensional subjective perspective of rural daughter/daughter-in-law caregivers' patterns of interaction within the context of caring for a parent with a dementing illness.

The purpose of this research was to identify the multidimensional patterns of person-environment interaction. These patterns emerged from rural daughter/daughter-in-law's descriptions of caring for parents who have Alzheimer's Disease or a related Disorder (ADRD).

Secondary analysis was conducted on sixteen transcribed tape-recorded interviews with rural daughter/daughter-in-law caregivers of parents with ADRD. The nine dimensions of person-environment interaction which organize the NANDA Taxonomy were used as a framework for analysis in conjunction with the method of content analysis described by Miles and Huberman (1994).

Findings indicated that the NANDA dimensions were evident in the data. The dimensions were further synthesized to describe individual daughter/daughter-in-law caregiver person-environment interactional patterns.

Caregiver patterns of person-environment interaction clustered into three common groupings: (a) unconnected caregiver interactional patterns, (b) connected caregiver interactional patterns, and (c) interconnected caregiver interactional patterns.

In the first group of caregiver interactional patterns, daughters/daughters-in-law cared for their parents unconnected to others in their environment and provided no description of caring for themselves. The second group described connecting with others to help with caregiving, but also gave no description of caring for themselves. The third group described caring as a natural, interconnected process in which the family and community participated. The daughters/daughters-in-law indicated they cared for themselves as part of the process.

The findings may help practitioners target interventions to those caregivers who have unconnected patterns of person-environment interaction. These caregivers may exhibit the highest risk for the multidimensional problems associated with caregiving, and the parent care recipient a higher risk of institutionalization.
Notes: Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 56-10, Section: B, page: 5423.

Thesis (PH.D.)--UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA, 1995.

School code: 0130.