Att vårda en anhörig med en demenssjukdom

: En kvalitativ litteraturstudie

Abstract

Background: An estimated 55 million people worldwide live with dementia, of
whom about a third have a relative carer. Carers are rarely a chosen role but emerge from the individual's characteristics. Sense of coherence is a model that, among other things, targets an individual's quality of life and is therefore useful in the context of family caregivers. Purpose: The purpose was to highlight relatives' experiences of caring for a relative with dementia. Method: A qualitative approach has been used. Review was done with Blomqvist et al. (2016) review template for qualitative studies developed at Kristianstad University. Analysis of articles was done using Friberg's (2022) five-step analysis model. Results: The results that emerged from the analyses are reported in five categories that describe the experiences of family caregivers. The categories reported are loss of social relations, need for support and information, cultural duty, exhaustion, and helplessness. Discussion: The methodological discussion is based on Shenton's (2004) four credibility concepts. The discussion of results was based on two main findings discussed in connection with Antonovsky's (1987) model sense of coherence (SOC) and on the ethics of consequence according to Birkler (2012). The main findings are also discussed based on the third global sustainability goal.

Date of Award	2023-Jun
Original language	Swedish
Supervisor	Anna Pålsson (Supervisor) & Gerth Hedov (Examiner)