Using the process of constant comparative analysis to examine interview data, the current study explored the process of taking on and continuing to give care to mothers with dementia. The sample consisted of 19 daughters and 1 daughter-in-law; all but one were living with the mother. The core phenomenon of mastery captured the processes of (re)calling, through (re) learning how to be with the mother to (re)adjusting as the daughters try to take care of themselves and consider placing their mother in a nursing home. Through these processes, the daughters essentially deconstruct their images of their mother and rebuild the image to include the impact of the disease process. The inclusion of the cognitive work adds an additional focus for potential intervention with daughters who, in providing care for their mothers, form such a vital part of current health care systems.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Able, E. K. (1990). Informal care for the disabled elderly. Research on Aging, 12, 139-155.
2.
Atienza, A. A., Stephens, M. A. P., & Townsend, A. L. (2002). Dispositional optimism, role-specific stress, and the well-being of adult daughter caregivers. Research on Aging, 24, 193-217.
3.
Baumgarten, M. (1989). The health of persons giving care to the demented elderly: A critical review of the literature. Journal of Clinical Epidemiology, 42, 1137-1148.
4.
Becker, G. (1997). Disrupted lives. Berkeley: University of California Press.
5.
Blumer, H. (1969). Symbolic interactionism: Perspective and method. Berkeley: University of California Press.
6.
Boss, P. G., Caron, W., & Horbal, J. (1988). Alzheimer’s disease and ambiguous loss. In C. Chilman, E. Nunnally,& F. Cox (Eds.), Chronic illness and disability(Vol. 2, pp. 123-140). Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
7.
Boss, P. G., Caron, W., Horbal, J.,& Mortimer, J. (1990). Predictors of depression in caregivers of dementia patients: Boundary ambiguity and mastery. Family Process, 29, 245-254.
8.
Bowers, B. J. (1987). Intergenerational caregiving: Adult caregivers and their aging parents. Advances in Nursing Science, 9(2), 20-31.
9.
Brody, E. M. (1985). The Donald P. Kent Memorial Lecture: Parent care as a normative family stress. The Gerontologist, 25, 19-29.
10.
Brody, E. M., Litvin, S. J., Albert, S. M.,& Hoffman, C. J. (1994). Marital status of daughters and patterns of parent care. Journal of Gerontology, 49, S95-S103.
11.
Butcher, H. K., Holkup, P. A., & Buckwalter, K. C. (2001). The experience of caring for a family member with Alzheimer’s disease. Western Journal of Nursing Research, 23, 33-55.
12.
Carruth, A. K. (1996). Motivating factors, exchange patterns, and reciprocity among caregivers of parents with and without dementia. Research in Nursing and Health, 19, 409-419.
13.
Cartwright, J. C., Archbold, P. G., Stewart, B. J., & Limandri, B. (1994). Enrichment process in family caregiving to frail elders. Advances in Nursing Science, 17(1), 31-43.
14.
Cicirelli, V. G. (1993). Attachment and obligation as daughters’ motives for caregiving behavior and subsequent effect on subjective burden. Psychology and Aging, 8, 144-155.
15.
Clandinin, D. J.,& Connelly, F. M. (2000). Narrative inquiry. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
16.
Clark, M. C.,& Standard, P. L. (1997). The caregiving story: Howthe narrative approach informs caregiving burden. Issues in Mental Health Nursing, 18, 87-97.
17.
Cossette, S., Levesque, L., & Laurin, L. (1995). Informal and formal support for caregivers of a demented relative: Do gender and kinship make a difference? Research in Nursing and Health, 18, 437-451.
18.
Crispi, E. L., Schiaffino, K., & Berman, W. H. (1997). The contribution of attachment to burden in adult children of institutionalized parents with dementia. The Gerontologist, 37, 52-60.
19.
Fink, S. V. (1995). The influence of family resources and family demands on the strains and well-being of caregiving families. Nursing Research, 44(3), 139-146.
20.
Globerman, J. (1996). Motivation to care: Daughters- and sons-in-law caring for relatives with Alzheimer’s disease. Family Relations, 45, 37-45.
21.
Keady, J. (1996). The experience of dementia: Areview of the literature andimplications for nursing practice. Journal of Clinical Nursing, 5, 275-288.
22.
Kuhlman, G. J., Wilson, H. S., Hutchinson, S. A., & Wallhagen, M. (1991). Alzheimer’s disease and family caregiving: Critical synthesis of the literature and research agenda. Nursing Research, 40, 331-337.
23.
Langner, S. R. (1995). Finding meaning in caring for elderly relatives: Loss and personal growth. Holistic Nursing Practice, 9(3), 75-84.
24.
LaRossa, R.,& Reitzes, D. C. (1993). Symbolic interactionism and family studies. In P. G. Boss, W. J. Doherty, R. LaRosa, W. R. Schumm,& S. K. Steinmetz (Eds.), Sourcebook of family theories and methods: A contextual approach(pp. 135-166). New York: Plenum.
25.
Lyons, R. E., Sullivan, M. J. L., Ritvo, P. G., & Coyne, J. C. (1995). Relationships in chronic illness and disability. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
26.
McCarty, E. F. (1996). Caring for a parent with Alzheimer’s disease: Process of daughter caregiver stress. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 23(4), 792-803.
27.
McGrew, K. (1998). Daughters’ caregiving decisions: From an impulse to a balancing point of care. Journal of Women and Aging, 10(2), 49-65.
28.
Miller, M., & Lawton, M. P. (1997). Introduction: Finding balance in caregiver research. The Gerontologist, 37, 216-217.
29.
Mishler, E. G. (1986). Research interviewing: Context and narrative. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
30.
Paoletti, I. (2002). Caring for older people: Agendered practice. Discourse and Society, 13, 805-817.
31.
Patterson, S. J., Gauthier, S., Bergman, H., Cohen, C., Feightner, J. W., Feldman, H., and Hogan, D. B. (1999). Recognition, assessment, and managementof dementing disorders: Conclusions from the Canadian consensus conference on dementia. Canadian Medical Association Journal, 160, (12 Suppl), 515-515.
32.
Perry, J. (1996). Astudy of women caregiving to husbands who have Alzheimer’s disease:Family know-how as a process of interpretive caring. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Washington, Seattle, WA.
33.
Perry, J. (2002). Astudy of women giving care to husbands who have Alzheimer’s disease: Family know-how as a process of interpretive caring. Research in Nursing and Health, 25, 307-316.
34.
Perry, J., & O’Connor, D. L. (2002). Preserving personhood: (Re)membering the spouse with dementia. Family Relations, 51, 55-62.
35.
Phillips, L. R.,& Rempusheski, V. R. (1986). Caring for the frail elderly at home: Toward a theoretical explanation of the dynamics of poor quality family caregiving. Advances in Nursing Science, 8(4), 62-84.
36.
Pohl, J. M., Boyd, C., & Given, B. A. (1997). Mother-daughter relationships during the first year of caregiving: Aqualitative study. Journal ofWomen and Aging, 9, 133-149.
37.
Pohl, J. M., Boyd, C., Liang, J., & Given, C. W. (1995). Analysis of the impact of motherdaughter relationships on the commitment to caregiving. Nursing Research, 44(2), 68-75.
38.
Pruss, R. (1996). Symbolic interaction and ethnographic research. Albany: State University of New York Press.
39.
Random House dictionary of the English language(unabridged). (1973). New York: Random House.
40.
Reiss, D. (1981). The family’s construction of reality. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
41.
Schumacher, K. L. (1996). Reconceptualizing family caregiving: Family-based illness care during chemotherapy. Research in Nursing and Health, 19, 261-271.
42.
Schumacher, K. L., Stewart, B. J., Archbold, P. G., Dodd, M. J., & Dibble, S. L. (2000). Family caregiving skill: Development of the concept. Research in Nursing and Health, 23, 191-203.
43.
Stoller, E. P.,& Cutler, S. J. (1992). The impact of gender on configurations of care among married elderly couples. Research on Aging, 14, 313-330.
44.
Stone, R., Cafferata, G. L., & Sangl, J. (1987). Caregivers of the frail elderly: Anational profile. The Gerontologist, 27(5), 616-626.
45.
Strauss, A., & Corbin, J. (1990). Basics of qualitative research. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
46.
Strauss, A.,& Corbin, J. (1994). Grounded theory methodology. In N. K. Denizen& Y. S. Lincoln (Eds.), Handbook of qualitative research(pp. 273-285). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
47.
Teel, C. S., & Carson, P. (2003). Family experiences in the journey through dementia diagnosis and care. Journal of Family Nursing, 9(1), 38-58.
48.
Townsend, A. L., & Franks, M. M. (1995). Binding ties: Closeness and conflict in adult children’s caregiving relationships. Psychology and Aging, 10(3), 342-351.
49.
Walker, A. J., & Pratt, C. C. (1990). Motives for parental caregiving and relationship quality. Family Relations, 39(1), 51-57.
50.
Wilcox, S., O’Sullivan, P., & King, A. C. (2001). Caregiver coping strategies: Wives versus daughters. Clinical Gerontologist, 23, 81-97.
