American Indian Family Caregivers’ Experiences with Helping Elders

Abstract

In recent years, a vast literature has accumulated on the negative effects on family caregivers of providing care to elders, while relatively little research has explored caregiving as a positive experience. Only a handful of studies have examined any aspect of informal caregiving among American Indians. This mixed methods study explores the negative and positive aspects of providing elder care among 19 northern plains American Indian family members. These caregivers described low levels of burden and high levels of reward, attributable to cultural attitudes toward elders and caregiving, collective care provision, strong reciprocal relationships with elders, enjoyment of elders, and relatively low levels of care provision. Caregiving manifested as part of a complex exchange of assistance rather than a unidirectional provision of assistance from the family member to the elder. That caregiving emerged as such an overwhelmingly positive experience in a community faced with poverty, alcohol disorders, trauma, and cultural traumatization is testimony to the important roles that elders often continue to play in these communities.

The positive aspects of caregiving in dementia: A critical review of the qualitative literature

“…Furthermore, those studies that formed a part of a larger piece of research tended not to report as much detail of the data collection method, particularly in terms of who collected the data, their training and potential influence they may have had on the process (Butcher & Buckwalter, 2002;Farran et al, 1991;Jansson, Almberg, Grafström, & Winblad, 1998;Jervis, Boland & Fickenscher 2010;Peacock et al, 2010;Ribeiro & Paúl, 2008;Shim, Barroso, Gilliss & Davis, 2013). Even in cases where interviewer information was provided, in all but one study -Netto et al, 2009 -it was not the author of the study that carried out the interviews.…”

“…Some studies described using a range of 'common qualitative techniques' (Farran et al, 1991, p. 485) or reported engaging in different levels of coding with no theoretical basis (Narayan et al, 2001). Further studies utilised techniques from a particular theoretical position, most commonly grounded theory, but did not follow through with this approach to develop a theory grounded in the data (Jervis et al, 2010;Murray et al, 1999;Netto et al, 2009;Ribeiro & Paúl, 2008).…”

“…A sense of satisfaction with carrying out caregiving duties well was reported by carers in most studies. Feelings of satisfaction were particularly associated with doing a good job (Jervis et al, 2010), keeping the PwD safe (Peacock et al, 2010) or making them as comfortable as possible (Murray et al, 1999).…”

“…As well as job satisfaction, carers across the studies spoke of emotional rewards gained through caring. These were often related to feeling appreciated or successful and such comments were particularly poignant when they came from the PwD themselves (Jansson et al, 1998;Jervis et al 2010;Netto et al, 2009;Ribeiro & Paúl, 2008).…”

The Impact of History and Culture on Nursing Care of Native American Elders

“…The caregiving experience has been found to be positive, despite extra burden. In an investigation of caregiving by Native family members for reservationbased Native elders, Jervis, Boland, and Fickenscher (2010) noted:…”