Lived experiences of caregivers of persons with Alzheimer’s disease

Pages: 136-140
Smitakhi Mahanta and H. Sobhana (Department of Psychiatric Social Work, LGB Regional Institute of Mental Health, Tezpur, Assam)

Caregivers of Persons with Alzheimer’s disease have different experiences of providing care. Stress and other mental health problems are common among them. Understanding their lived experiences of caregiving helps to develop caregiver centric service programme. The aim of our study was to assess the lived experiences of the caregivers. We explored their understanding about Alzheimer’s disease, difficulties they faced in providing care and how they overcame these difficulties. The study was carried out among 7 caregivers of persons with Alzheimer’s disease. Qualitative in-depth interviews were conducted using purposive sampling method. Thematic Analysis of the data was done. The mean age of the caregivers were found to be 40.6 years. The following four themes were generated: knowledge about Alzheimer’s disease, psychosocial impact of caregiving on caregivers, response to stress, and coping with stress. It was found that the caregivers had limited knowledge about Alzheimer’s disease; they felt overburdened due to the responsibilities of caregiving, felt stressed and burnt out. Most of them had difficulty to cope with the stressful situations. Caregiving has direct impact on the caregiver’s overall well-being and they require attention in order to enhance their coping skills and improve the quality of life.