Family Caregivers' Experiences with Community Services: A Qualitative Analysis

Abstract

Researchers of family caregiving have presented mixed results in evaluating the effectiveness of community services in reducing family caregiver stress and have indicated that many caregivers use limited services or access services late in their caregiving experience. The purpose of this study was to describe the experience of the use of community services, including benefits and barriers, by family caregivers of relatives with Alzheimer's disease or a related disorder. Community services included assistance with caregiving or related tasks and educational or emotional support that was provided by health professionals or community service providers. In this qualitative descriptive study, a convenience sample of 21 family caregivers was interviewed. Open-ended questions were used to explore the caregivers' experiences with community services. Transcribed data were analyzed using qualitative content-analysis techniques. Results indicated that family caregivers received benefits of renewal, sense of community, and new knowledge and believed that their patient benefited from the services. Barriers to service use included care receiver resistance, reluctance of the caregiver, hassles for the caregiver, concerns over quality, and concerns over finances. These findings provide direction for community nurses and other health professionals in targeting interventions that will meet the expressed needs of caregivers.

Positive and negative evaluation of caregiving among three different types of informal care relationships

“…Rather unexpectedly, not using support services for caregivers also added to a more positive evaluation. This supports the evidence that receiving help is stressful for spouses because they may be dissatisfied with the types of services they receive or because the services they receive do not meet their needs (Winslow 2003). Among children, providing more hours of care per week to care receivers with physical limitations and without behavioural problems also added to a more positive evaluation, as did being female and having a lower level of education.…”

Informal Caregivers’ Experiences and Needs When Caring for a Relative With Heart Failure

“…In the present study, the informal caregivers' need for information on where to turn for support also resulted in an ever-present uncertainty as the health care professionals failed to acknowledge this need. Winslow 41 shows that help from the community can unburden informal caregivers and increase their well-being. Strömberg 26 points out that community services for informal caregivers are often under-used since it can be difficult for informal caregivers to seek the help they are entitled to due to lack of knowledge of 17 the procedures.…”

Concilier travail et soins à un proche au Canada: quel soutien des acteurs communautaire ?

“…Il semble en effet que les proches-aidants canadiens ont besoin d'être mieux accompagnés : s'ils étaient environ 50 pour cent à manifester des problèmes de santé en 2007, moins de 20 pour cent avaient reçu un soutien du gouvernement, ou même de la communauté (Williams et al, 2016). Plutôt qu'un manque de services, certains auteurs indiquent une sousutilisation de ces derniers et suggèrent l'existence de réticences d'ordre culturel à y recourir (Robinson et al, 2013), ou encore une surdose d'information décourageant la recherche d'aide (Winslow, 2003). Dans une revue des écrits, Pépin et al (2012) montrent également l'existence d'autres facteurs de contingence : la gravité de la condition de l'aidé et de ce fait l'intensité des besoins du proche-aidant, ainsi que les capacités d'organisation personnelle de ce dernier, influencent la probabilité de réussite des interventions.…”