Dementia and Residential Placement

Abstract

The purpose of this research is to discover dementia carers’ lived experience when they have relinquished full-time care. It is assumed that once family members make a decision to relinquish full-time care, the stresses of day-to-day care-giving will be eliminated. Twenty primary caregivers from Aged Care/Aged Psychiatry Units in Melbourne were recruited through a consecutive sampling procedure to participate in the study. The Stress Process Model was utilized to explain why dementia caregiving is so stressful. A mixed-method research approach that consisted of qualitative and quantitative methodologies was utilized. In-depth interviews with caregivers revealed the difficult and stressful aspects of dementia caregiving while waiting for residential care. A majority of dementia care-givers had experienced both complex and traumatic admissions to the Aged/Psychiatric Inpatient Units. Carers felt alone in making the ‘most difficult’ decision to relinquish full-time care, and these carers experienced loss, sadness and resignation after having made this decision. Carers of Non-English Speaking Background had a compromised life satisfaction and poor psychological health. One-half of all caregivers who participated in the study were seen to be at risk of depression that would warrant professional intervention. Results that have not previously been reported in the dementia caregiving literature were the compromised life satisfaction and poor psychological health of carers from Non-English Speaking Background. The study concludes that social workers and other professionals need to become aware of the consequences of placement so that increased support can be offered to dementia caregivers during this difficult phase of caregiving. The practice implications include the identification of at risk carer groups and the need for appropriate supports for dementia caregivers at all stages of the caring process.