The significance of social engagement in relocated older adults.

Social networks and social support are recognized as important determinants of health. Relocation is a common transition in older adults' lives that can disrupt existing social networks and challenge seniors to reconstitute these networks. Social engagement is a required component of the process of reconstituting social relationships and of feeling connected. The purpose of this focused ethnographic study was to develop an understanding of the experience of social engagement in relocated residents of a senior-designated apartment building. Data generation included interviews with 19 older adults. Transcribed interviews were analyzed using thematic analysis. Seniors developed four types of relationships for provision of feelings of security, casual interactions, opportunity to be supportive, and friendship. The findings of this research provide a better understanding of the relationships seniors developed in a new community as a result of the process of social engagement.

Family caregivers and transition to long-term care.

This study's purpose was to explore family caregivers' experiences while they waited placement of family members with dementia in long-term care and how they coped during this period of waiting and transition. In this exploratory descriptive qualitative study, interviews were conducted with 29 caregivers at entry to the placement wait-list and at 3 to 4-month intervals thereafter. Final interviews, with 15 caregivers, were conducted shortly after admission to long-term care. When "the waiting begins," the themes of crisis as initiator, synchronicity, control, and reciprocity emerged. "After placement" included the themes of deeply bonded relationships, attempting continuity, and sorting out the change. The findings provide new insight into family caregiver experiences during and after placement of a family member with dementia in long-term care. Clinicians must recognize that wherever services are provided, at home before placement or in institutions after placement, family caregivers must be incorporated as full partners in care.

Factors which influence coping: home-based family caregiving of persons with advanced cancer.

The findings from a qualitative study of how caregivers coped while they cared for a dying family member at home are presented. Fifteen family caregivers were interviewed twice following the death of their family member. Although it was not one of the original objectives of the research, coping emerged as a category needing further analysis. There were factors that either facilitated or interfered with caregiver coping. Those factors that facilitated their coping included characteristics of the caregivers themselves; contributions made by the dying person; and supportive networks, both formal and informal, available to the caregivers. Interfering factors related to caregiver experiences with informal and formal systems. From the more distant perspective of post-death reflections, the caregivers provided insight into how their coping was grounded in the meaning associated with their experiences.

The bereavement experience following home-based family caregiving for persons with advanced cancer.

The purpose of this qualitative interpretive study was to explore the experience of bereavement following home-based family caregiving for persons with advanced cancer. The research question addressed by this research was: How do family caregivers of patients with advanced cancer perceive the effects of home-based caregiving on their bereavement? Fifteen caregivers were retrospectively interviewed twice after the death of their family member. Caregivers reported both positive (e.g., feelings of accomplishment, improved family relationships) and negative (e.g., haunting images, feelings of failure) outcomes that they attributed to having cared for their family member. Overall positive outcomes predominated and bereaved family members reported satisfaction with having provided care for their loved one who had died.

The experience of respite during home-based family caregiving for persons with advanced cancer.

The purpose of this qualitative interpretive study was to explore the experience of respite during home-based family caregiving for persons with advanced cancer. Fifteen caregivers were interviewed twice after the death of their family member. Three main themes emerged from the data analysis. First, caring for a dying family member at home is an emotionally intense, exhausting, and singular experience, set in a world apart from everyday life patterns. Second, the caregivers differentiated between cognitive breaks and physical (getting away from) breaks of respite. To achieve a cognitive break and yet remain within the caregiving environment was viewed as important, whereas the physical separation from it was significant only if it contributed in some meaningful way to the caregiving. Third, the meaning of respite is rooted in the desire to bring a measure of quality and normalcy to the life of the dying person. Respite means staying engaged in living life with the dying family member.