Caregivers

Background: Almost seven million persons in Saudi Arabia are diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM). Lack of knowledge regarding T2DM among Saudi caregivers may impact T2DM management and disease outcomes, yet established educational programs for their caregivers are scant. There is a need to discover T2DM informal caregivers’ knowledge and its relation to patients' T2DM management, prior to designing educational interventions.
Purpose: The purpose of this quantitative, correlational study was to measure disease knowledge among informal caregivers for patients with T2DM in Saudi Arabia, and to compare findings to the patient-health status presented by HbA1C level. This study was conceptualized within nursing caring science, using Nursing as Caring Theory (Boykin & Schoenhofer, 2001), and the Individual and Family Self-Management Theory (Ryan & Sawin, 2009).

Global research on family caregivers’ experiences with individuals who have serious mental illnesses has increased in different cultures. However, less research has been conducted on caregivers’ experiences within cultural contexts by using transcultural theory. Further, limited studies explored family caregivers’ lived experiences of people with serious mental illnesses in Saudi Arabia. The purpose of this hermeneutic phenomenological study was to explore the lived experiences of family caregivers of persons with serious mental illnesses in Saudi Arabia in a home environment. Guided by Ray’s (2016) Transcultural Caring Dynamics in Nursing and Health-Care Model and Diekelmann’s seven-stage analysis, this study interpreted the meaning of the family caregivers’ lived experiences for individuals with serious mental illness within Saudi Arabia. Data were collected through in-depth interviews and demographic data with participants. Participants included 10 males and 5 females, who ranged in age from 24 to 53 years. Fourteen of the participants were siblings. The meaning of families’ lived experiences was interpreted as a multidimensional process within Saudi culture in the constitutive pattern of the dynamic of an endless cycle of care. Three relational themes and 11 sub-themes were categorized to capture the multidimensional nature of the phenomenon: (a) development of caring experiences (formation of knowledge and Allah/spirituality); (b) living culture values and beliefs (societal views, caregivers’ beliefs and attitudes, caregiver in family, impact of social media, caregiver as financially supportive, and mental health care services); and (c) meaning of care ( being available, expressing love, and being present). This study's findings offer implications for nursing education, nursing practice, health policy, and future research recommendations.

Stroke is a major health problem in Saudi Arabia that impacts the health outcomes of adults and elderly persons. No matter its severity, stroke is a stressful life event not only for the survivors but their family caregivers as well. Uncertainty is one of the major problems facing family caregivers caring for persons with a stroke. Uncertainty affects overall health outcomes and the quality of life of family caregivers caring for persons with strokes. Current research has not yet identified the meaning of the uncertainty of family caregivers of persons with strokes during hospitalization in Saudi Arabia. The purpose of this study was to gain an in-depth understanding of the meaning of uncertainty experienced by family caregivers of persons in the hospital who have survived strokes.
This study used a phenomenological design. Data were collected through in-depth face-to-face and online semi-structured interviews with 15 family caregivers using openended questions. Participants were recruited from inpatient medical units and stroke care units in multi acute care hospitals in Saudi Arabia. The interviews were recorded, transcribed verbatim, translated, and analyzed using the hermeneutic phenomenological unitary caring research method. NVivo software (Version 12) was used to manage the qualitative data.

Providing family caregiving during transitional care of a stroke patient is the most challenging for family caregivers. This is because of the shift in the care environment from a hospital with an organizational culture to a home with a traditional culture. Yet, cultural influences on family caregiving during transitional care are not well studied. This ethnographic study aims to describe the family caregiving of older Thai-Isan stroke survivors through the transition from hospital to home. This study employs Lininger's culture care theory (CCT) as the theoretical framework and utilizes the ethnonursing method to discover cultural knowledge. Data was collected through a demographic questionnaire, participant observations, and a semi-structured interview. Data was analyzed using the Four Phases of the Data Analysis Enabler. Fifteen dyads of older stroke patients and their family caregivers were recruited following the inclusion and exclusion criteria. The research settings included Srinagarind Hospital units and key informants’ homes in a Thai-Isan community.

In the U.S., an estimated 16 million persons provide unpaid care for family and friends with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (ADRD). These caregivers are experiencing challenges, such as lack social interaction, which further impacts their own health. Social isolation for caregivers is now considered to be another challenge due to living in a global pandemic.
The purpose of this study was to address the gap in understanding rural informal caregiver by examining social connectedness through the use of story-guided dialogues among rural caregivers of PWD during a global pandemic. Story Theory guides intentional dialogue, to bring forward connecting with self-in-relation through use of story path, noting low, high, and turning points.

The global agenda for gender equality recognizes unpaid domestic caregiving in the home as the largest barrier to gender equality. The purpose of this constructivist grounded theory study was to explore the social process of caregiving in fathers and identify the patterns that influence caregiving in fathers. Recruited from multiple community settings, thirty-five fathers participated in intensive interviews with the investigator. Guided by the Swanson’s (2013) Theory of Caring and using iterative categorization during data analysis, this study proposed the action-based Caregiving in Fathers Theory. The three main themes of the theory are Reinventing the Kitchen Table, Creating a Home and Being More than The Commander. Fathers identified the barriers of exhaustion, preoccupation, social culture, and controlling forces. Fathers identified the passages of love, expectations, support, and lifestyle. For fathers, gender equality in society begins with accepting fathers as proficient, competent, and primary caregivers. The results of this study can be utilized by healthcare professionals, educators, and other disciplines to understand the social process of caregiving in fathers. Future research could explore the role of sex or related phenomenon, such as disability, on caregiving.

The rising incidence of Acquired Immune Disease Syndrome (AIDS), the increased length of survival for persons living with AIDS (PLWAs), and the associated high costs, suggest that patients will want and need to be cared for at home by family caregivers. If caring is the essence of nursing (Leininger, 1988a; Watson, 1985), then research on caring will expand nurses' understanding of what caring means to the recipient: the patients and their primary caregivers. The purpose of this phenomenological study of primary caregivers of PLWAs was to discover the meaning of their being cared for by the nurse. Colaizzi's (1978) method of data analysis was used. The experience of being cared for by the nurse for caregivers of PLWAs was knowing that they were in a relationship, in this together with a nurse who was there for them; experiencing the nurse's way of being as a competent friend; and being helped to cope with the experience of being a caregiver through specific nursing actions. Implications for practice, education and research are discussed.