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- Title
Narratives of family caregiving: the process of making meaning.
- Authors
Ayres L
- Abstract
OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this paper is to describe the components of the process of making meaning identified in interviews with 36 family caregivers of physically and/or cognitively disabled adults and teenagers.DESIGN: Triangulation, qualitative, narrative.SETTING: Home interviews.POPULATION: The purposive sample comprised 36 caregivers identified by two home health agencies, two health care providers, and by snowball sampling among caregivers. A total of 36 caregivers of 44 persons were included.INTERVENTIONS: Participants were interviewed in their homes or other locations of their choice. Interviews were based on a semi-structured interview guide so that each participant responded to the same set of questions. Data were analyzed using a narrative method developed from reader-response theory.MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): The process of making meaning for the caregivers in this study consisted of expectations, explanations, and strategies. These components of the process emerged from the data, and were not part of a an priori model of meaning. Expectations, explanations, and strategies functioned interdependently in caregivers' stories. As caregivers made meaning, each of these components influenced the others. Combined with caregivers' expectations for action in particular circumstances and the more general inferences about the world and its inhabitants by which caregivers evaluate meaningfulness in their lives, explanations bring caregivers' moral as well as practical reasoning to bear on their situations, and thus strongly influence both choice of strategy and likelihood of success. There is no doubt that some caregivers interpret their experiences as extraordinary, difficult, and burdensome. On the other hand, caregivers whose explanations emphasize manageability and ordinariness might find very different meanings, even in externally similar circumstances.RESULTS/CONCLUSIONS: Further research is clearly indicated to measure, rather than just describe, the components of caregivers' expectations, explanations, and strategies. Such research could identify explanations associated with flexible expectations and successful, good quality strategies, as well as provide clinicians with tools to predict those caregivers at risk for difficulty. Knowledge about caregivers could then be incorporated into interventions for caregivers at risk. Nursing interventions could help caregivers discover new expectations, explain their situations more positively, or find new strategies that both provide more satisfaction and are more consistent with good quality care. Nursing research has particular promise in illuminating this point of view. [CINAHL abstract]
- Publication
Research in Nursing & Health, 2000, Vol 23, Issue 6, p424
- ISSN
0160-6891
- Publication type
Journal Article
- DOI
10.1002/1098-240x(200012)23:6<424::aid-nur2>3.0.co;2-w