J Korean Acad Psychiatr Ment Health Nurs.  2012 Sep;21(3):197-209.

Resilience of Families with Elderly Patients with Dementia

• Kim GM
• Park E
• Lee YS
• Lee JN

Abstract

PURPOSE
The purpose of this study was to pave the way for developing nursing intervention strategies to enhance family resilience by identifying unique patterns of resilience in families of elderly patients with dementia.
METHODS
The Q-methodology was used to define types and describe characteristics of family resilience. After in-depth interviews with 12 family members of patients with dementia and study of related literature, final 50 Q-samples were selected by collecting the opinions of experts. The selected 50 Q-statements were sorted by 30 family members (P-samples). The PC-QUNAL program was used to analyze Q-sort data.
RESULTS
Four distinctive Q-factors for family resilience were identified: I. Seeking positive meaning, II. Developing reasonable cooperation with family members, III. Accepting reality passively, IV. Depending on external resources.
CONCLUSION
Families caring for elderly patients with dementia show unique patterns of family resilience, which result from multi-factors, such as their own belief systems or culture, organizational patterns, and communication processes, in dealing with crisis. The results of this study can be useful in confirming the types of resilience of families of patients with dementia and their characteristics, and the underlying data can be used as to develop tailored nursing strategies for strengthening family capacities to master adversity.

Keyword

Dementia; Family; Resilience

MeSH Terms

Aged
Dementia
Humans
Organizational Culture
Q-Sort

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