Family caregivers' experiences: Caring for persons in stages four to seven of Alzheimer's disease

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a progressive type of dementia that often leads to multifaceted problems for family caregivers. The purpose of the descriptive phenomenological study was to explore the family caregiver's experience of providing care to a family member in stages four to seven of AD, during the six months before and first 12 months of nursing home placement. The study was conducted to help health care professionals improve, understand, and avert misconceptions of the family caregiver's experience of the caregiving role. The study involved two semi-structured interview questions with 10 caregiver participants from a nursing home located in the northeastern part of Toronto. The phenomenological study used the van Kaam design adapted and modified by Moustakas for data analysis that helped generate findings of five themes conveyed as: (a) family caregiver need to understand the AD, (b) family caregiver constant caregiving at home (c) family caregiver management of problematic behaviors, (d) family caregiver decision-making, and (e) family caregiver improvement of quality of life in the nursing home. The conclusion and recommendations derived from the study's analysis conveyed the importance of health care professionals, through collaboration with policy makers, educating family caregivers about AD and the types of support require and available during the caregiving role. The current findings can contribute to knowledge about the AD and its impact on placement decisions. The results of the current study add to the prior literature on family caregivers' experiences of the caregiving role when caring for a family member with AD.