Strategies to prepare and support the role transition of significant others in becoming caregivers of persons with dementia
- Authors: Smith, Lourett
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Dementia -- Patients -- Care -- South Africa Caregivers -- Mental health -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/20856 , vital:29407
- Description: Significant others of persons with dementia face many challenges when caring for their loved ones in the home. I became aware of the challenges that significant others of persons with dementia face when caring for persons with dementia, when I was working as a registered nurse in a psychiatric hospital. As a junior registered nurse I found it challenging at times to manage persons with dementia due to the behavioural problems that they exhibited. It occurred to me at the time that significant others who became caregivers of persons with dementia must struggle with their role as caregivers, not having the necessary knowledge and skills to care for them. Literature confirms my observation that significant others need assistance when they experience the transition from being a significant other to being a caregiver of a person with dementia. Significant others often have to deal with many additional role transitions once they become caregivers. Such role transitions could include having to cope with empty nest syndrome and retirement among others, as well as having to deal with caring for their relative. They are prone to stress, burnout and other problems related to caring. By preparing significant others for their main role transition into becoming a caregiver and providing them with support, many of these problems could be prevented and the person with dementia would benefit as a result. Literature also highlights that there is a paucity of research dealing with the role transition of significant others who become the caregivers of persons with dementia. Therefore, the aim of the study was to provide an understanding of how significant others experience providing care to persons with dementia. The study also aimed to understand how significant others were prepared and supported in their role as caregivers as they went through their role transition. The study also aimed to develop strategies to enable psychiatric nurses (APNs), psychiatric nurses (PNs) and other healthcare professionals to prepare and support significant others during their role transition into caregivers of persons with dementia. The study followed a qualitative approach with an exploratory, contextual, descriptive design, applying the Middle-Range Transition Theory as the paradigm and phenomenology as the meta-paradigm. Visual narrative inquiry was utilised using collages and semi-structured individual interviews to collect the data from participants who were the caregivers of persons with dementia. They were purposefully selected from a non-profit Alzheimer’s clinic in the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality (NMBM). A sample size of eight participants was included. A conceptual framework was used for the development of the strategies for APNs/ PNs and other healthcare professionals to prepare and support significant others during their role transition from significant others to caregivers of persons with dementia. The principles of professional research ethics were adhered to throughout the study.
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- Date Issued: 2017
Guidelines for a therapeutic programme to address the mental health needs of adolescents being treated in a psychiatric hospital
- Authors: Smith, Lourett
- Date: 2013
- Subjects: Teenagers , Psychiatric hospitals , Mental health facilities
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MCur
- Identifier: vital:10036 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1010963 , Teenagers , Psychiatric hospitals , Mental health facilities
- Description: It is estimated that about 10 million children and adolescents worldwide, annually suffer from psychiatric disorders. They often require hospital treatment because they are not coping with their psychiatric condition at home or there is a lack of supervision. Suicide amongst adolescents who are experiencing a crisis is a bleak reality. In-patient treatment provides the necessary structure and supervision in order to secure a stable environment which is vital for treating adolescents. Treatment usually includes a therapeutic programme provided by members of the multi-professional team. Since there is at present no adolescent in-patient treatment facility in the Nelson Mandela Bay to provide psychiatric care to adolescents who are experiencing a mental problem, these patients are admitted to psychiatric hospitals which cater only for the needs of adult patients or they are referred to facilities in other provinces. The goals and objectives of this study are firstly, to explore and describe the perceptions of mental health professionals working in psychiatric hospitals regarding what should be included in a therapeutic programme for adolescents and secondly, to develop guidelines for treating adolescents that can be implemented in psychiatric hospitals in the Nelson Mandela Bay. The study followed a qualitative, exploratory, descriptive, contextual design. The research population included various professionals who provide services at psychiatric hospitals in the Nelson Mandela Bay. Purposive sampling was utilized. Semi-structured interviews were conducted to collect information-rich data and field notes were kept. The interviews were transcribed and Tesch’s eight steps of data analysis were followed to create meaning from the data collected. Themes were identified and grouped together to form new categories. An independent coder assisted with the coding process to ensure the trustworthiness of the findings. Literature was reviewed in order to identify research that was done previously regarding adolescent psychiatric in-patient programmes in order to bridge the gaps that were identified. The researcher ensured the validity of the study by conforming to Lincoln and Guba’s model of trustworthiness which consists of the following four constructs, namely, credibility, transferability, dependability and confirmability. The researcher ensured that the study was conducted in an ethical manner by adhering to ethical principles such as beneficence, justice and fidelity.
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- Date Issued: 2013