Adaptasi Penjaga Utama dalam Penjagaan Pesakit Demensia

Abstract

Malaysia will be gazetted as ageing country when older populations keep increasing from time to time. These scenario indicates that many of the elderly people will have the possibility to become dementia, and many of us are finding themselves becoming caregivers for elderly people with dementia. The purpose of this qualitative study is to understand and describe how the primary caregivers of patients with dementia adapt themselves in caregiving situation. Phenomenological approach was used for this qualitative study. The inclusion criteria of participants were caregivers of dementia patients (mild to moderate stage), age of caregivers was 21 and above, and they are primary caregiver of dementia patient. Ten family caregivers who accompanied dementia patients to the Memory Clinic at Tuanku Jaafar Hospital, Seremban, Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia were interviewed. The results revealed four ways were used by primary caregivers to adapt with caregiving situation. The primary caregivers managed to be calm, pray to God, avoid the caregiving situation, and solve problems in caregiving. Most of the primary caregivers managed to avoid the caregiving situation in order to reduce stress and lighten their burden. The primary caregivers’ personal adaptations skills alone may be insufficient to relieve their stress and burden. They may need attention and support from others when they experience pressure and stress, regardless of their personal resources. Therefore the findings of the study suggest that caregivers’ support group should be created by healthcare provider and relevant parties, so that they can share their experiences and use it as a platform to ventilate their pressure and stress in caregiving.

Keywords

• primary caregiver; dementia patients; adaptations in caregiving; qualitative study; caregiving of dementia patients