Immigrants with dementia in Swedish residential care: an exploratory study of the experiences of their family members and Nursing staff

Abstract

BackgroundWorldwide, there is a growing population of older people who develop dementia in a country other than that of their origin. When their dementia has reached an advanced stage, residential care is most often needed. People with dementia in Sweden are often cared for in group homes. For immigrants, this may mean a linguistically challenging care environment for both healthcare staff and the patients’ family members.The aim of this study was to explore and describe the experiences of family members and professional caregivers regarding the care provided to immigrants with dementia in group homes in Sweden.MethodsAn exploratory, descriptive study with a qualitative approach was chosen. In-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with nine professional caregivers and five family members of people with dementia with Finnish, Estonian, Hungarian and Ingrian backgrounds; all were chosen purposefully. All people with dementia had lost their Swedish language skills as their second language. The data was analysed using qualitative content analysis.ResultsThree main categories and seven subcategories were identified. The first main category: A new living situation comprised the subcategories: adjusting to new living arrangements and expectations regarding activities and traditional food at the group home, the second main category: Challenges in communication with the subcategories: limited communication between the immigrant with dementia and the Swedish-speaking nursing staff and the consequences of linguistic misunderstandings and nuanced communication in a common language and the third main category: The role of the family member at the group home with the subcategories: a link to the healthy life story of the family member with dementia and an expert and interpreter for the nursing staff.ConclusionsThe family member played a crucial role in the lives of immigrants with dementia living in a group home by facilitating communication between the nursing staff and the PWD and also by making it possible for PWD to access the cultural activities they wanted and which professional caregivers were either not able to recognise as needed or could not deliver.

Job strain: a cross-sectional survey of dementia care specialists and other staff in Swedish home care services

“…The studies reported serious misunderstandings between staff members and older persons and that staff was not able to recognize what older persons needed nor could they deliver needed care. 42 , 43 Canadian researchers indicated that ethnicity and culture should be addressed to improve situations for care recipients and home care staff. 44 …”

Caring and Uncaring Encounters between Assistant Nurses and Immigrants with Dementia Symptoms in Two Group Homes in Sweden-an Observational Study

“…This study is a part of a larger study entitled “ Ethnic minority people with dementia being cared for in special accommodation in Sweden ”. The data was collected during a period of one year which also included interviews with relatives and AN (Rosendahl et al 2016 ). An observational study with a qualitative approach and a qualitative, deductive content analysis method was chosen.…”

An Examination of Factors Influencing Equitable Access to Dementia Care and Support Programs among Migrants and Refugees Living with Dementia: A Literature Review

“…Older bilinguals often revert to a single language despite a lifetime of dual language use, losing the ability to speak the second language [26]. This issue is particularly prominent among migrants and refugees with dementia who lose their ability to speak their second languages, which is often the language of their host country, leading to difficulty in communicating with the health-care professionals and service providers [27]. Bilingual individuals with dementia are frequently observed to be inclined to asymmetrical language impairment with preferential preservation and the use of the first acquired language [28], which can be inferred among individuals that have migrated to a foreign country that speaks a different language than one's country of emigration.…”

“…Evidence obtained from the study of immigrants in Sweden suggested that immigrants with dementia noticeably preferred music and television programs that had more familiarity, such as programs in their native language [27]. They were also more likely to participate and engage in dementia support programs and services where they could communicate in their native language [23,26].…”