Realizing Wrongness: Stories of Older Wife Caregivers

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to gain an understanding of patterns of help-seeking by older wife caregivers of husbands with dementia using grounded theory methodology with a theoretical perspective of health as expanding consciousness. Eleven older wife caregivers were interviewed, leading to discovery of a new substantive theory titled “Help-Seeking Choices: Taking One Day at a Time,” which was grounded in reality as experienced by the participants. The antecedent category of realizing wrongness, with subthemes of recognizing a problem, accepting direction from others, and recognizing help needs, is described in this article along with implications of findings.