The environment has been found to be critical to the well-being of patients with dementia. The purpose of this study was to describe strategies Colombian caregivers used in the home to manage the care of relatives with dementia. Grounded theory techniques were used. Interviews were conducted in Medellín, Colombia, with 18 primary caregivers and 2 health care professionals. Participant observations were conducted in caregivers’ support groups and homes. Family caregivers rebuilt the environment as the disease progressed to accommodate caregiving and preserve family life. Caring for a relative with dementia is a craft that transforms the material world in which patient and caregiver live. The findings show the value of place-sensitive approaches to the study and practice of caregiving.
Agier, M. (2002). Between war and city: Towards an urban anthropology of refugee camps. Ethnography, 3, 317-341.
2.
Albert, S. M. (1990). The dependent elderly, home health care, and strategies of household adaptation. In J. F. Gubrium & A. Sanker (Eds.), The home care experience (pp. 19-36). Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
3.
Andrews, G. J. (2002). Towards a more place-sensitive nursing research: An invitation to medical and health geography. Nursing Inquiry, 9, 221-238.
4.
Blumer, H. (1969). Symbolic interactionism. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
5.
Collins, C., Liken, M., King, S., & Kokinakis, C. (1993). Loss and grief among family caregivers of relatives with dementia. Qualitative Health Research, 3, 236-253.
6.
Crotty, M. (1998). The foundations of social research: Meaning and perspective in the research process. London: Sage.
7.
Czaja, S. J., Eisdorfer, C., & Schulz, R. (2000). Future directions in caregiving: Implications for intervention research. In R. Schulz (Ed.), Handbook of dementia caregiving: Evidence-based interventions (pp. 283-319). New York: Springer.
8.
Day, K., Carreon, D., & Stump, C. (2000). The therapeutic design of environments for people with dementia: A review of the empirical research. The Gerontologist, 40, 397-416.
9.
de la Cuesta, C. (2001). Review of the Latin American literature on research in family care of patients with dementia. Unpublished report, Pacific-Rim Grant, Faculty of Nursing, Universidad de Antioquia, Medellín, Colombia.
10.
de la Cuesta, C. (2003). Cuidado artesanal: Un estudio cualitativo sobre cuidado familiar de pacientes con demencia avanzada [The craft of care: A qualitative study on family care of patients with advanced dementia]. Unpublished report, Faculty of Nursing, Universidad de Antioquia, Medellín, Colombia.
11.
Douglas, M. (1998). Estilos de pensar [Thought styles]. Barcelona, Spain: Gedisa.
12.
Frank, A. (2003). Survivorship as craft and conviction: Reflections on research in progress. Qualitative Health Research, 13, 247-255.
13.
Gesler, W. (1992). Therapeutic landscapes: Medical issues in the light of the new cultural geography. Social Science and Medicine, 34, 735-746.
14.
Goffman, E. (1992). Internados [Asylums]. Buenos Aires, Argentina: Amorrortu.
15.
Grant, L. A., & Sommers, A. R. (1998). Adapting living environments for persons with Alzheimer’s disease. Geriatrics, 53, 61-65.
16.
Gutiérrez de Pineda, V. (2000). Familia y cultura en Colombia [Family and culture in Colombia] (2nd ed.). Medellín, Colombia: Universidad de Antioquia.
17.
Handy, S. L., Boarnet, M. G., Ewing, R., & Killingsworth, R. E. (2002). How the built environment affects physical activity: Views from urban planning. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 23 (2, Suppl 1), S64-S73.
18.
Holloway, S. L., & Valentine, G. (2000). Spatiality and the new social studies of childhood. Sociology, 34, 763-783.
19.
Isla Pera, P. (2000). El cuidador familiar: Una revisión sobre la necesidad del cuidado doméstico y sus repercusiones en la familia [Family caregiver: A literature review of family care and its impact on the family]. Cultura de los Cuidados, 4, 187-194.
20.
Klaasen, G., Quiroga, P., Zavala, M., Castro, M., & Vidal, D. (1988). Redes de apoyo medico-social para pacientes con demencia: Comunas de Concepción y Quillón, 1996 [Networks of Medico social support for patients with dementia: Concepión and Quillón communities]. Cuadernos Médicos Sociales, 39, 111-115.
21.
Krieger, J., & Higgins, D. L. (2002). Housing and health: Time again for public health action. American Journal of Public Health, 92, 758-768.
22.
Layne, L. L. (2000). “He was a real baby with baby things”: A material culture analysis of personhood, parenthood and pregnancy loss. Journal of Material Culture, 5, 321-345.
23.
Lipson, G. J., & Steiger, N. J. (1996). Self-care nursing in a multicultural context. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
24.
Mace, N. L., & Rabins, P. V. (1997). Cuando el día tiene 36 horas [When the day has 36 hours] (2nd Spanish ed.). México DF, México: Pax México.
25.
Manthorpe, M. A., Lliffe, S., & Eden, A. (2003). Testing Twigg and Atkin’s typology of caring: A study of primary care professionals’perceptions of dementia care using a modified focus group method. Health and Social Care in the Community, 11, 477-485.
26.
Marks, D. F., & Sykes, M. (2000). Dealing with dementia: Recent European research. London: Middlesex University Press.
27.
Messecar, D. C., Archbold, P. G., Stewart, B. J., & Kirschling, J. (2002). Home environmental modification strategies used by caregivers of elders. Research in Nursing and Health, 25, 357-370.
28.
Morgan, D. G., & Stewart, N. J. (1997). The importance of the social environment in dementia care. Western Journal of Nursing Research, 19, 740-761.
29.
Morgan, D. G., & Stewart, N. J. (1999). The physical environment of special care units: Needs of residents with dementia from the perspectives of staff and family caregivers. Qualitative Health Research, 9, 105-118.
30.
Morse, J. (2001). Using shadowed data [Editorial]. Qualitative Health Research, 11, 291-292.
31.
Muñoz González, L. A., Arancibia Silva, P., & Paredes Arévalo, L. P. (1999). La experiencia de familiares cuidadores de pacientes que sufren Alzheimer y competencias del profesional de enfermería [The experience of family caregivers of Alzheimer patients and professional nurses’capabilities]. Investigación y Educación en Enfermería, 17, 35-50.
32.
Nightingale, F. (1992). Notes on nursing: What it is and what it is not. Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott. (Original work published 1859)
33.
Noell, E. (1995). Design in nursing homes: Environment as a silent partner in caregiving. Generations: Journal of the Western Gerontological Society, 19, 14-19.
34.
Pickard, S., & Glendinning, C. (2002). Comparing the role of family carers and nurses in the domestic health care of frail older people. Health and Social Care in the Community, 10, 144-150.
35.
Sánchez Ayéndez, M. (1993). La mujer como proveedora principal de apoyo a los ancianos: El caso de Puerto Rico [The woman is main support for the elderly: The Puerto Rican case]. In E. Gómez Gómez (Ed.), Género, Mujer y Salud (pp. 286-291). Washington, DC: Organización Panamericana de la Salud-OMS.
36.
Sandelowski, M. (2000). Devices and desires: Gender, technology, and American nursing. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press.
37.
Sandelowski, M. (2003). Taking things seriously: Studying the material culture of nursing. In J. Latimer (Ed.), Advanced qualitative research for nursing (pp. 185-210). Oxford, UK: Blackwell Science.
38.
Stichler, J. F. (2001). Creating healing environments in critical care units. Critical Care Quarterly, 24, 1-20.
39.
Strauss, A., & Corbin, J. M. (1998). Basics of qualitative research: Techniques and procedures for developing grounded theory (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
40.
Twigg, J. (1989). Models of carers: How do social care agencies conceptualize their relationship with informal careers?Journal of Social Policy, 18, 53-66.
