No abstract

Applying a systematic method to a large set of care-management activities can identify a parsimonious number of higher order categories of variables and factors to guide the understanding of dementia care-management processes. Further application of this methodology in outcome analyses and to other data sets is necessary to test its practicality.

The purpose of this study is to identify the stresses and coping strategies of five mothers in caring for their chronically ill and disabled children. These mothers were receiving services from a nonprofit hospital in Malaysia. Through an in-depth case study design, the findings indicated that emotional stress caused high levels of depression, which decreased life satisfaction that led to poorer physical health. Issues explored included employment, noncooperation of family members, as well as factors related to the mother's individual abilities and how these factors might affect maternal caregiving. Recommendations for future research include identifying probable psychosocial stresses and other associated factors while emphasizing the importance of community-based programs that minimize these stresses.