Exploring the Caring Experience of Dementia Caregivers

[[abstract]]The purpose of this study was to explore the caregiver experiences in taking care of dementia patients. Qualitative research method was used in this study and six caregivers of dementia patients were invited to participate in face-to-face in-depth individual interviews. Data were analyzed with phenomenological methods in data coding, naming, and classifying processes. The findings of this study included the following six aspects: 1. Caring issues and burdens：(a) Patient issues: Frequent forgetfulness, illusion, emotional problems, lost sense of temperature, the demand of feeding by others, and restless behaviors. (b) Caregiver burdens：Physiological, psychological, and social burdens. 2. Caregiver stress coping strategies：Caregivers’ coping strategies for the caring burdens including managing to be motional-focused, problem-focused, and dysfunctional coping strategies. 3. The reward and personal growth of caring experiences：(a) Personal aspect: Recognizing self-values and self-efficacy, enhancing the status among family members, learning caring skills, and improving the attitude towards caring. (b) Relationship：Getting close with the patient, enhancing the interaction and passion with family members, feeling delighted and satisfied. 4. The curative factors of caregiver supporting groups： (a) Instillation of hope (b) Universality (c) Imparting information (d) Catharsis (e) Existential factors (f) Group cohesiveness These findings indicated that, even shouldering heavy burdens, caregivers still dealt with difficulties bravely and used coping strategies to solve problems. Meanwhile, with the supports by family members and encouragements from supporting group members, the caregivers were able to rebuild courage, recognize self-empowerment, and advance personal growth through caring patients. Finally, these findings provide caregiver experience for caregivers or healthcare assistants to carry-out high quality care and healthcare institutions to construct effective strategies of taking care on dementia patients