Abstract

This dissertation reports findings from an interpretive phenomenological study which addressed the question, ";How central, for elders, in their everyday concerns and practices, is the experience of receiving family care?"; The investigator collected data using interviews, observations and questionnaires with a purposive sample of nine elders in their. homes. Data were collected from each elder two to five times.

Findings were that eight of nine elders (1) incorporated both their illness and help from family members comfortably into their lives while still viewing themselves as autonomous; (2) had positive relationships with their family carers; (3) viewed the acceptability of receiving family care as closely tied to their positive relationships with their family carers; and (4) maintained a delicate balance between their care needs and their autonomy. One of nine elders viewed his illness and receiving family care as disruptive to his life. By showing a contrast, this case illuminated the other findings.

These findings can broaden gerontological nurses' background understanding of elders' views of independence as autonomy rather than functional ability; can heighten our sensitivity to elders' issues and concerns about how autonomy can be maintained within the context of positive relationships with family carers; and can shape interventions such as modeling listening to elders' and their carers' stories about how they view their experiences as they continue their lives together.

Description

This dissertation has also been disseminated through the ProQuest Dissertations and Theses database. Dissertation/thesis number: 9953716; ProQuest document ID: 304546897. The author still retains copyright.

Author Details

Janice D. Crist, PhD

Sigma Membership

Beta Mu

Type

Dissertation

Format Type

Text-based Document

Study Design/Type

Phenomenology

Research Approach

Qualitative Research

Keywords:

Elderly Adults, Autonomy, Family Replationships, Patient Care

Advisor

Patricia G. Archbold

Second Advisor

Christine A. Tanner

Third Advisor

Sheila M. Kodadek

Degree

PhD

Degree Grantor

Oregon Health Sciences University

Degree Year

1999

Rights Holder

All rights reserved by the author(s) and/or publisher(s) listed in this item record unless relinquished in whole or part by a rights notation or a Creative Commons License present in this item record.

All permission requests should be directed accordingly and not to the Sigma Repository.

All submitting authors or publishers have affirmed that when using material in their work where they do not own copyright, they have obtained permission of the copyright holder prior to submission and the rights holder has been acknowledged as necessary.

Review Type

None: Degree-based Submission

Acquisition

Proxy-submission

Date of Issue

2022-02-25

Full Text of Presentation

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